


The Ark

by Alan Leif (AlanLeif)



Category: SOMA (Video Game)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Far Future, Female Protagonist, Friendship/Love, Gen, Original Character(s), Original Fiction, Post-Canon, Science, Virtual Reality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-12 07:14:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 30,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28756440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlanLeif/pseuds/Alan%20Leif
Summary: Hundreds of years have passed since the original game events. Living among technology, in a cozy and futuristic city, people have everything but happiness. The past has long been forgotten and the future is uncertain. People's lives here are controlled by a religion that imposes many prohibitions. Vika, who is 17 years-old, is still looking for her place in this society. She suddenly discovers she has strange superpowers that make her question whether something with the world around is not completely right.This story is designed to be read "as original", so the knowledge of SOMA game is not required.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3
Collections: Soma





	1. Church Day

**Author's Note:**

> The fanfic consists of 2 parts and is a translation from the original version, written by me in Russian language. Thank you, CumulusCloud, for helping me with the translation.  
> I will be glad for any comments from native English speakers that could help fix any found issues in the text. 
> 
> This story is fully finished, but the translation of the Part 2 is in progress.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Ark - Part 1
> 
> Chapter 1 - Church Day

\- Hey, what are you doing there? We'll be late!

Mom was already sitting inside, and dad was nervously pacing by the car, waiting for Vika. As usually, she was messing with something, and could not leave the house. Today was the church day, and they had to go to the service. Vika did not like these boring ceremonies. Not that she didn't believe in Gods, but considered such regular joint visits to church completely superfluous. Sometimes, she herself could go to the temple, stand among the icons, sit on a bench and listen to the mysterious silence, spreading under its high vaults. But she never told anybody about those visits. The services, in her opinion, turned the mystery of church into some sort of show, and she would gladly skip them if she had not been dragged there by her parents.

\- I'm going, I'm going - she muttered - hastily grabbing her purse lying near the door. Dad doesn’t like being made to wait, and she is constantly testing his patience.

Often Vika thought that she would like at her age of 17 to run away from home, hide somewhere, and start an independent, adult life. But such thoughts never turned into an action - after all, she was quite a domesticated teenager. Perhaps, if she had some acquaintances around her that would have acted in a similar way, she could have followed their example. However, Vika did not have any such people in her environment. Even Mike, a daredevil, could hardly imagine a long existence away from the city. 

In general, life in Cyan seemed to Vika unbearably boring and monotonous. People were born, went to school, then to work, gave birth to children, and died. "Just like some kind of robots" - she thought, staring sometimes from above at cars and people streaming through the streets. She enjoyed such a view from the roof of one of the city's skyscrapers, where she liked to secretly climb.

Vika was not a very sociable girl. Her peers considered her strange and withdrawn. She, in turn, was contemptuous of her mates’ interests, all their cheap entertainment, clothes, cars, and clubs. It was often said about Vika that she was “as if not of this world,” and she herself thought so as well. Of closer friends, she had, in general, only a slobber Mike, who, perhaps, was even in love with her but this could not be easily understood. Vika herself wasn’t particularly interested in men, she wasn’t interested in women either. Mom said that maybe she just hadn't met her one yet. But upon hearing this, Vika always contemptuously snorted. She did not understand why she had to meet some kind of "one". Why direct her life into imposed rails - relationships, marriage, family life? Was it just to live the program that everyone else obeyed?

Vika was delighted to see Mike near the entrance to the temple, next to his mother. It meant that perhaps, after the service, they could escape with him and wander around the neighborhood. Wandering - that’s what they called walks without a goal, often in places where ordinary people see no reason to walk. It would seem that they had already explored the entire Globe Island up and down but Mike always knew how to find some amazing places. Like Vika, Mike was a little weird. He loved to explore the world, write poetry, and in general was known as an impractical boy with excessive imagination. Vika’s strict parents said that this goes from a lack of upbringing - after all, he was raised by only his mother, who did not have enough strength to look after him. But it was Mike, who Vika liked to spend her time with. “If only he wouldn’t make a move on me one day,” she thought, “It would ruin everything.” But Mike remained a devoted and loyal friend, not ever hinting at anything more.

The service started as always, with dull organ music. Then the pastor began to read his sermon in an equally monotonous and mournful tone, which sounded stock to Vika's ears.  
“And may their souls abide in the eternal, prepared paradise. For the righteous only inherit it. May they sit on the throne in shining gold, where they will rise in greatness, together with the Primordial Gods, may their names be sanctified!" - and stuff like that.

Vika, yawning, glanced at Mike, who was standing a little further away. It seemed from his face that he was listening to the sermon very attentively and passionately. Vika knew that he was just fooling around, copying the adults. When Mike saw his friend, he furtively winked at her. “Well, let's just hang out today,” Vika thought, and her soul felt a little more joyful, despite the disgustingly boring church service. Slowly she looked around the hall, her gaze slid across random parishioners, and then moved a little higher above the pastor, where a huge mosaic was located, carved from precious metals and stones. It depicted a very beautiful man and a woman standing in full growth - the Deities who created our world.

This picture was of such a stunning beauty that looking at it often took Vika's breath away, but not during this stupid service, where the whole sacrament was spoiled by an absurd crowd of people. When Vika came here alone, she often looked at the icon for a long time. It seemed to her that some kind of wonderful stream of power was coming from the picture. She felt the Gods, and even prayed to them, which she would never admit to anyone. She would be terribly ashamed if she was considered religious, just like everyone else. Parents would even begin to praise - “Oh, our girl finally turned to the Gods. What a strong faith she has inside” - and all that. Yuck, it’s disgusting even to think about! 

Perhaps, within, Vika could even call herself religious. But this religion for her was the complete opposite to the ritual of church parishioners. She wanted to know the Deities, to have contact with them, to perceive them with all her heart. Believing in them was for Vika something deeply personal and intimate, like some kind of secret diamond that she kept in the very depths of her soul. And even parents were not allowed into this depth. Especially the parents! No, Vika loved them, and understood that they also loved her. But it is much more comfortable to keep them at a distance and be for them that rebel image that they are used to seeing in their daughter. And they were not happy with this image. They, as luck would have it, strove to dig deeper all the time, to go to that holy of holies of her soul, where they were not supposed to enter at all. They knew Vika too well, and too easily could they trample and vulgarize all her feelings with their elephant enthusiasm.

It was quite another matter when Vika was left alone. Here she could allow herself to be herself, and cry, and even (Gods forbid anyone will see) fall on her knees in front of the images. If we can say that Vika was in love with someone, then it is with the Divine Creators themselves, who, as the Scriptures said, sacrificed their lives for all the people.

However, Vika was not so much interested in the legends of Scripture, which could well have been invented by someone, as in that infinitely sweet secret, the mystery of faith, which she couldn’t unravel. There was something in all this that could never be found in a temple filled with zombified people who came to hear the pastor mumbling the same words over and over again. But Vika has long understood that what she is looking for should be sought not only and not so much in the divine Icons. Perhaps it will never be found in any temple at all. She felt this sweet riddle in the most unusual and vivid dreams. In half-forgotten childhood experiences of delight and wonder, which can no longer be translated into words. In those strange poems Mike read to her sometimes. In abandoned areas, groves and caves, where they could sometimes climb, hiding from the bustle of the city. Or even on the edge of the roof, where the sounds, the smells of the passing day, the contrast of the heavenly approaching sunset and the movement of the city under it, sometimes give her that extraordinary feeling of unity with the whole world.


	2. Utopia

At the end of the service Mike happily approached Vika. The parishioners, already filled with the necessary dose of awe, left the temple, heading for their cars.

\- Oh, holy Catherine! - Vika's mother quitely exclaimed when she saw her friend whom she did not really like. 

Vika used that moment to tell her parents:   
\- Mike and I will go for a walk!

Despite her mother's attempts to say no, Vika insisted. She was no longer 13, and knew well how to stand her ground.

\- Just don’t disappear until the evening - mom gave up, although she did not really hope that Vika would listen.

When her daughter walked with this guy, it often brought them to the most remote corners of the city, and made their parents pretty nervous.

Also this time, two friends immediately rushed away from the temple, stepping along a narrow footpath, and watching the bright cars of the parishioners gaining speed around them and running away. Cars in Cyan were the standard mode of transport. Each family had at least one. And since the vast majority of people used only them to commute, the paths for pedestrians became very narrow, and the highways grew like wide rivers.

Smoothly cars flowed between square blocks of high-rise apartment buildings, quirky entertainment clubs, and glassy business centers. Every now and then the cars running along the river-streets appeared and dived underground, into the large network of subterranean highways. Such roads were built later, because when the population of Cyan increased, there simply didn’t remain enough space on the streets above.

After walking a little further, Mike stopped and looked at the temple, which they had just left. Made of perfectly white coral stone, tall and futuristic in shape, it resembled a huge finger pointing to the sky. The blinding diamonds encircling its tower looked like a luxurious expensive ring, in the middle of which a text was carved in large gold letters along the entire perimeter: “Church of St. Simon and Catherine. Let them save in eternity our souls. Amen".

Bowing slightly towards the temple, Mike made a gesture touching his left shoulder and then the forehead with his right hand, which meant "heeding" - the sign used to show the worship of the Gods.

\- Why do you heed? - Vika smiled - you don't believe in Gods.  
\- Who knows, - Mike replied with an enigmatic grin, - today's Service has filled me with its grace.

Vika was no stranger to the fact that he always liked to fool around. This boy, as it seemed to her, had nothing sacred, and despised all the laws of society. Many hated him for this, but that was exactly what Vika was excited about - his inner freedom. And instinctively, she often played along with her friend, trying to seem even more cool.

\- And for me, it's a piece of crap in the city center. How many materials have they ditched for this, and all for the sake of religion? - answered Vika thoughtfully.

And although, deep inside, she loved this temple, but, like the mask she wore in front of her parents, it was a slightly different role, chosen specially for Mike. Of course with Mike she could suddenly make an emotional striptease as well. However, she thought it was just boring to have a friendship without any masks at all.

\- Built by normies for normies - Mike immediately agreed - but it's still cool. I would like to climb to its roof one day.  
\- Do you remember that guy who tried? - replied Vika - He was sentenced to 5 years for insulting the religion.  
\- I will try anyway, will just knock the priest out first, so he doesn't call the cops - boastfully said Mike.

Vika knew that he was unlikely to dare such a thing for real. Mike liked to talk a lot, but he would never do any serious violation of the law. Vika felt that paradoxically she was possibly much more capable of a crime than he. Now, after the dull service, she was in high spirits, and she liked the idea of climbing somewhere. Thus, she very soon persuaded her friend to go to the roof of her favorite skyscraper. It would not be completely safe there either, as the guards could catch them, however in that case they would simply get away with being scolded, because there are no shrines in that building.

There were more than enough high-rise buildings in the city of Cyan, and many of them had specially equipped roofs with parks and swimming pools for pastime. But such usual places were of little interest to Vika and Mike. The forbidden fruit is always the sweetest, and Vika discovered hers one day. It was a skyscraper in the center of a large business district. It was built as an office space, but either the business was not going well or the new owners had not yet started leasing. In general, most of the floors there were still empty, which meant the likelihood of being spotted was quite small. 

When Vika found this building for the first time, she walked inside through the underground parking lot, sneaking past a small guard post. She never regretted it. This building, which she nicknamed "Utopia" has since become Vika's secret hideout. Especially in those moments when she so wanted to disappear from the entire world.

And now, she and Mike hastily passed the huge, dark, and almost empty parking lot along the path Vika was very familiar with, where security cameras would not detect them, and opened a greenish door leading to the service staircase. 

It was impossible to use the elevators as there was surveillance everywhere. Thus they had to climb the stairs, all the way to the 68th floor. Fortunately, the flooring here was made of some kind of soft and springy material that perfectly dampens footsteps. Small glass windows with bars on each flight made it possible to quietly look inside the floors. Everywhere Vika and Mike saw long empty corridors, with dimly glowing lamps. This building was already almost empty, and now, on a weekend, there was no one at all, except for the guards, bored in their security rooms. Vika even thought it would be great to wander a little along these corridors, but they must have cameras there. Although, she could try to cut them out. But will it work? In any case, she didn't want to run into trouble right now. It’s much better to take a long-known path.

Finally they reached the last floor. Everything here was buzzing with the sounds of service machines, switches, elevator motors, and who knows what else. Vika was pleased with this set of sounds, merging into a single one. It was like getting into the holy of holies, the very border between the human world and the world of machines that imperceptibly but tirelessly serve the city. What if somewhere here, very close, they can find a hatch into this technical room? There must be another huge service floor, filled with humming, roaring compressors, motors, wires, and turbines. Thinking of this gave Vika goosebumps. Having such an eerie place so nearby, that you can feel it, hear its uniform buzz, when you are very close, but still protected from it by a wall - this is what causes that very exceptional feeling of wonder and mystery.

Now, having passed the last half-flight along the gray service steps lined with yellow stripes, Vika pushed open the massive iron door. It, thank Gods, was never locked, but was quite heavy, and it took some effort to open it. Mike gave her a hand, and then the bright sunshine and fresh wind hit their faces. The two friends were standing on the roof, the very sacred one, not intended for people to visit. It was covered with pipes and air conditioners, as well as other pieces of iron of some unknown purpose, which are usually located on the roofs of the buildings.

\- Wow, how awesome! - admired Mike, enjoying the warm streams of high-altitude wind that ruffled his hair.

Vika understood his delight. Without saying anything, she only stepped forward, to the corner ledge, from which a stunning view of the entire Cyan and its surroundings opened up. It was here that she sometimes spent hours, delighted by the magic of wind, height and freedom. The birds get to enjoy it like this too, but only a few humans do nowadays.


	3. Rooftop talk

\- Are we not going to be spotted from here? - Mike asked when Vika quickly jumped on the roof curb and sat comfortably, her legs hanging down. She clearly had no fear of heights at all.  
\- Who’s going to notice? - she grinned back - We seem so small from below. And people have generally lost the habit of raising their heads.  
\- It's true - agreed Mike. He also carefully jumped over the curb, sitting next to his friend.

Now both of them sat in an extremely dangerous position, being on the very edge of the roof, at a great height, and enjoyed the breathtaking view. Beneath a bright blue sky, with lush cumulus clouds, there was the shining city of Cyan, made of stone, glass and metal. Far away, for several kilometers, the roofs of skyscrapers of the most varied shapes and sizes were sticking out, so it seemed that you could now just jump on the next roof and start jumping around those buildings like grasshoppers, very quickly finding yourself in completely unknown, remote areas of the city. In some places, on the rooftops, there were beautiful gardens, in which one could notice the puppet silhouettes of people resting. Slightly lower, between pencil-skyscrapers, elevated overpasses and monorail lines stretched gracefully and snake trains rushed at great speeds along them.

Then, looking further, to where the rows of skyscrapers ended, one could notice the green strip of the large Aurous Park. This park was very practical and its green area sharply contrasted with the urban jungle. For Cyan, it served as lungs, providing the rest of the city with the necessary amount of oxygen. The city park also housed entertainment centers, cinemas, and various amusement rides. Vika has tried almost all of them in her time, except for the most insane centrifuges that spin you at breakneck speed. Mike, on the other hand, tried everything, even though some of those devices made him feel awful.

Remembering those adventures in Aurous, the two friends laughed. Still further, on the horizon, where the green zone ended, the blue-silver surface of the water could be seen - the shore of the endless Great Ocean, washing the Globe Island.

\- Grandma always told that in the old times the city was smaller, and there were many more green spaces - said Vika  
\- Yes, I would have liked to live at that time - Mike said dreamily - why did they build everything up so quickly?  
\- People reproduce, they need space to live - Vika reasonably explained - They also need places to work, have fun, and everything else.  
\- Sometimes I think, what if people lived among nature - Mike wondered - what makes us all huddle in these buildings?  
\- Probably it is dangerous out there - Vika shrugged - Also imagine trying to force an average person to give up the delights of civilization.

After thinking for a moment, she added:  
\- You know, sometimes it seems to me that our life is insanely boring and aimless. Just look at my parents. Every day they have is just like the previous one - work, dinner, sleep, day off, going to church. Work again. And so will continue until death. When I think that I will also live like this, it scares me sometimes.  
\- Yes, it sucks - said Mike - I don't understand at all how one can have a job. I'll probably be a bum. It may not be easy, but every day will be fascinating and not the same as yesterday.  
\- Yeah, and they will quickly find you and throw you in jail for parasitism - Vika grinned.  
\- But I... I will be a traveler! I'll leave the city and go wandering in wild places - Mike found an answer.  
\- Where are you going? Globe is not that big. And there are almost no places left where people have not already built something - Vika noticed.  
\- So what? I will build a ship and sail to the ocean!  
\- Ugh, don't say that! - Vika stopped him - don't you know that there is nothing in the ocean! And what if they have a wiretap here?

Vika’s caution was not unfounded. Talking about travelling to the Ocean was forbidden under penalty of prison. The Holy Scriptures clearly indicated that the Globe is the only land in the world, and around it, only the waters of the Great Ocean are located, which, after thousands of kilometers, simply flow into an endless empty abyss. It was also said that after death, all those who were not righteous during their lifetime will fall into that same abyss too.

Of course, there were some desperate brave men who did not believe the Scriptures, and risked going on a journey on their home-made ships. However, none of them ever came back. After those attempts, even the very mention of water travel was declared a dangerous heresy.

\- Have you never wanted to know what is there yourself? - Mike went into a half-whisper - Is it right that the authorities forbid us to explore the world?  
\- The authorities know better what we need - Vika answered with a slight sarcasm - telenet, pizza, TV shows, sex, and temples on a schedule - that's all what makes a person happy. Why make life more complicated with some thoughts and research?  
\- So you noticed it too - Mike said seriously - people now seem to care about nothing but material goods and entertainment. And all the reasoning has been replaced by religion. A bit sad, isn’t it?  
\- Well, it's not up to us to judge them - answered Vika - if most people are happy with that.  
\- But are they happy? Look how many suicides there are now. And even the efforts of the churchmen do not help.

Vika looked into the distance thoughtfully. Often she herself thought about the issues Mike just raised. But she couldn't find the answers.

\- What do you think of... the sky? - Mike continued smoothly - There has to be something above the sky after all…  
\- The sky is a glass, solid dome on which the stars are located. Behind the sky there is an endless paradise - the land of the Gods, where we will go after death - Vika replied in the tone of a lecturer - you did go to school, didn’t you?  
\- Well, yes - said Mike - this is what the Scripture says - but I often think, could this really be? The paradise - a place so perfect, where there can absolutely be no grief and misfortune. Where everyone lives forever. But can such an existence be imagined at all? Wouldn't an eternal, ideal life become an insane, terrible boredom? What if there is no heaven at all? Could there be something else on the other side of our sky? For example, another island like ours, with similar people? Or with some others, who are not like us at all?

\- You are not going to end well with such talks - Vika grumbled - I hope they don't hear us here.

Then, after a thoughtful pause, she added:  
\- I already told you that sometimes I have very strange dreams. Those really can look like some other world. But I try to forget them as soon as possible. It’s not normal to have dreams.  
\- I don’t know - Mike answered, puzzled. “You’re the only person I know who has dreams. I guess I even envy you sometimes. It's so cool if you think about it! It’s like glitches from the entertainment pills, only with your eyes closed, right?”  
\- You can say that - Vika answered - but entertainment hallupills are more like watching a movie. You remember yourself fully there. And dreams, well, they carry me away completely... It seems I have another memory there, and there is a very different place. I do not always remember, who I am in reality, where I live... Something completely different from my life happens there. And when I wake up I think - ugh, it was only a dream! I probably have schizophrenia , or something worse…  
\- No - Mike reassured his friend - you just have a lot of stress. Your parents are too strict, so they strain you, and the brain has to somehow deal with the nervous tension. Remind me, and I'll get you the cool sedative the doctor prescribed for my mom. You will sleep like a dead woman.  
\- Thank you, Mike, for taking care of me - Vika answered - but you know, sometimes, especially looking at other people, I understand that something has been really wrong with me for a long time. And it is especially sad that I have no one to talk to about this. If I tell doctors, they will put me in a psychiatric hospital. If I go with this to a pastor, I will be accused of heresy. It's good that I can at least share it with you.   
\- At least with me - Mike answered with resentment - am I not enough?  
\- Well, now you are clinging to words - Vika responded

For a while they were sitting again in silence, and then Mike decided to carefully ask:  
\- So, can you tell me what kind of worlds you dream about? It’s interesting after all.  
\- You know, we should not talk about it - Vika snorted - why are you asking again?  
\- Well, you said that you can share it with me. What’s this secret?  
\- Because we both will be caught and imprisoned, you fool - said Vika gently.  
\- But there is definitely no one here, I am telling you! - Mike answered enthusiastically - look, what a lonely, high roof! Or do you think the wind has ears? Tell me a little bit, huh? What does it look like... what do you see?

Vika sighed heavily and looked up into the sky, as if seeking forgiveness from the Gods, then said:  
\- I often dream of the same place. It's dark, gloomy and empty there. There are no people, but a lot of iron around, some kind of machines, but all of it is dead. You know, everything is so rusty, abandoned.  
\- And what is rusty, abandoned? - Mike asked  
\- Well, do you remember we went to the dump outside the city? This is when the material deteriorates, degrades over time.  
\- Yes - said Mike - things really looked ridiculous there. As if they had lost their colors, became dull and ugly. So you're dreaming about a dump?  
\- No, it's not a dump at all - Vika answered - I dream of a place where people once lived, but they are no longer there. Absolutely. Only empty corridors with dim light, doors, rooms, non-working mechanisms, long cables and pipes. And water, a lot of water... All this is very deep under water.  
\- Oh, it gives me chills! - Mike exclaimed - I would not like to be there. Can anything exist under water at all?  
\- In my dreams, it can - Vika answered - and I walk, walk along these corridors, entering rooms with rusty furniture, dead equipment that does not work, the remains of human things. I’m walking there as if I’m looking for something. Something that I know for sure is there, but I just can't remember what it can be.   
\- Are you not scared of this? - Mike asked - I would probably die of fear.  
\- No, for some reason it's not scary - answered Vika - I tell you that in a dream everything is different. There is no fear, there is another feeling…  
\- What is it? - Mike asked impatiently  
\- As if this place is native to me. As if I came home.

A gust of warm wind ruffled the hair of Vika and Mike, who were now sitting and silently looking into the distance. Mike, still amazed and pondering what his friend had just told him. Vika, just stopping thoughts, and enjoying merging with the height, the wind, and the endless blue sky stretching far away to the very horizon.


	4. Between third and fourth floor

When Vika and Mike had already spent a lot of time on the roof, they began to head downstairs. Most likely they would have safely reached the ground floor having left the building the same way they entered. After all, the security rarely walked along this emergency staircase. It was Vika who ruined everything. Maybe that was because the frank conversation on the rooftop gave her courage, or those gloomy empty corridors of Utopia seduced her for so long, and now, in the presence of Mike, she grew bolder. What happened is while they were passing the 16th floor, she suddenly turned around:  
\- Look, Mike - the camera is off here! - she called out to her friend.

Mike and Vika peered into the corridor through the glass window of the landing. The CCTV camera that hung near the exit to the floor was apparently deactivated. This was evident from the fact that not a single light was lit on it, which was unlike other cameras that hung in Utopia.

Vika slyly looked at Mike. He immediately understood her without words. Although an inner voice told him that it’s better not to do this stupid thing, he was too excited to resist the temptation. The very next moment, Mike and Vika, pushing the long horizontal handle of the door to the 16th floor, cautiously stepped into its dark and empty corridor.

There was a smell of new building materials and electronics inside. Vika and Mike slowly walked a little further, looking around for other cameras. On the sides there were office doors numbered 1632, 1633, 1634... Mike tried to push a couple of doors, but they were all locked.  
\- Today is a day off, that’s why no one is there - he commented.  
\- It seems to me that rooms are not rented here at all - Vika answered.  
\- Why lock them then? - Mike asked, surprised - they would have been unlocked if they were empty.  
\- Maybe there are valuable building materials - she suggested.  
\- It's so cool here anyway! - Mike was running his hand along the drywall of the corridor. - Such a dark, deserted atmosphere. Tell me, Vika, does it look like the dreams you told me about?  
\- Not quite - Vika answered - everything there was so old and metal - well, like sort of a lab. But, I can catch some vibes of those dreams here for sure.

Cautiously, trying not to create any noise, the two friends proceeded along the corridor until they reached the turn, above which hung a working camera, turned towards the next corridor.  
\- There is no further move, they will spot us - Mike said sadly - let's get out of here.

And when he was already turning back, Vika called out to him:  
\- Wait, I'll show you something. Just promise you will never tell anyone about it. Not a word.  
\- I swear on my life! - Mike stopped, intrigued, not knowing what to expect.  
\- Look! - said Vika, and approached the camera.

Then, holding out her hand, she gazed at the device. The next moment, right in front of Mike's eyes, the camera made a barely audible sound of a stopping fan and turned off. All the lights on it went out.  
\- Mega cool! - Mike exclaimed, now looking admiringly and a little warily at Vika - But how did you do it?! So was the first camera also your work?  
\- Yes - Vika answered, with downcast eyes - now you see why I say that something is very wrong with me. Quite recently, after one of those dreams, I woke up and found that I feel the electronics around me, as if I see what’s inside. At first it seemed to me that I had completely lost my mind. Then, I tried turning the light in my room off and on with just a thought, and it worked. I was wildly scared. I didn't know what it was, it seemed to me that I was going to die. But soon, I noticed that if I do not concentrate on it, then it does not interfere with my normal life. Then I even began to have a little fun with it - I unexpectedly turned on and off household appliances in order to trick my parents. It was certainly funny. Today I tried it on cameras for the first time. As you can see, it also works. I have no idea what this is and I cannot tell anyone about it. Probably it is a side effect of my shiz. So... now you are the first person to know about it. Well, do you want to run in a panic and call the cops yet?  
\- Holy shit, you're... you're a superhero! - Mike exclaimed, still shocked - You and I can now get anywhere, we could break into a bank!  
\- I'm not going to do that - protested Vika - can you imagine what will happen to me if someone finds out? I will be hanged as a witch.  
\- You can trust me completely - Mike assured - I will not say a word to anyone.  
\- If I had even a drop of doubt in you, I would not have shown you anything - replied Vika.

Mike was standing in silence, digesting this new information. Not only did Vika, whom he adored so much, turned out to have super-abilities, but she also trusted him with her life. It was so cool that Mike wanted to scream from delight. However, he pulled himself together, and decided that he needed some time to comprehend everything. Surely he will figure out how to put Vika's cool abilities to use. All that’s left is to persuade her. Deep in thought, Mike followed the girl, who had already turned the corner into the corridor which was now disconnected from surveillance. But when they went a little further, Mike suddenly came up with another, more reasonable thought:  
\- Listen, what if they will notice at the guard post that two cameras have gone out on the same floor? For only one, they would hardly have raised their asses - could just break, it happens. But two at once, it’s already a strange coincidence, isn’t it?  
\- I’m also thinking about it now - said Vika - You know, I'm such an idiot, and forgot about all caution. Let's quickly get out of here!

Unfortunately, it was too late, and Mike's fears were confirmed immediately. As soon as the friends turned back into the first corridor, they saw a guard rapidly approaching from the other side. Vika and Mike turned around, but there, from behind a distant corner, another officer was already running towards them as well.

"They work quickly!" - Vika thought, and grabbing Mike’s arm, she pointed to the only remaining exit - a small corridor branch in the middle. However, this one ended in a dead end with three elevator doors. Edged on by the screams and stamping of the running guards behind them, Vika and Mike madly began to press all the call buttons. They were lucky, and one of the metal doors opened almost immediately. Friends jumped into the elevator and pressed "-1" - the underground parking, from which they could break free.

The elevator doors closed a second before the running guard. They heard him banging into the closed doors as the elevator accelerated downward.  
On the indicator they saw floor numbers flash faster and faster: 15-14-11-8…  
Suddenly, the elevator braked sharply and stopped at number 4.  
\- They blocked us! - Mike shouted when the doors had already started to open - Vika, do something!

Vika didn’t need to be asked twice. Mike only saw that she raised her hand again, and the elevator doors slammed shut with a bang. The light in the elevator car flickered. Rejoicing, Mike immediately pressed the "-1" button again, but now the cockpit did not budge. He then began to press all the buttons in a panic. No result.  
\- Don’t try, they turned off the controller - said Vika - I broke the door mechanism, but they will now call us to another floor.

Exactly, the elevator suddenly went up, stopping at the fifth. Mike saw his friend throw up her hand again, and the doors banged shut as soon as they began to open. Vika, grabbing the wall with her hand, slowly sank to the floor.  
\- Mike, I can't take it anymore - it’s draining my energy. I've never tried... such a heavy system...

At that moment, the elevator suddenly began to move again, this time downward, and for some reason unnaturally slow.  
\- They are pulling us by manual control - explained Vika, gasping for breath - They will stop at the third.  
\- How do you know all this... - Mike exclaimed - but... damn it! Vika, sweetie, please, try one more time, the last one!

Sitting on the floor, Vika raised her palm, gathering the last strength. Then the moving elevator stopped abruptly, so both numbers just froze on the scoreboard: “4-3”.  
\- Yes! Well done! You rule! Let them try to get us now between floors - Mike exclaimed happily. At this moment he saw that the body of his friend had gone limp and she completely lost consciousness.

Immediately forgetting about everything else, Mike began to help Vika recover. He patted her cheeks and then took a bottle from his backpack pouring water over her face. Finally, she moved a little and opened her eyes.  
\- Mike, what now? They'll get us, right? - she asked with an exhausted voice.  
\- Hush, hush, everything will be fine - hesitantly tried to console her Mike, with trembling hands helping Vika rise and sit by the wall of the elevator.

The indicator still read “4-3”. Above and below came the muffled shouts of the guards and the sound of striking metal - apparently they were trying to start the elevator or open the doors. For half a minute, Mike and Vika both looked helplessly at the frozen numbers. They had no strength to resist any longer and there was nothing left to do - the elevator was already completely blocked. They could only wait to be caught. 

Vika has already imagined being dragged by the arms or legs through the gap between the floors, and at this time the elevator starts abruptly, cutting her body in half. Another image, it does not move, then she is taken out alive, and given to the Holy Judgment. There, after accusing her of witchcraft, they pass her a death sentence. Vika firmly decided that she would prefer the first option rather than be executed in public, with the shame and hooting of the crowd. Will she manage to gather all her remaining forces and somehow start the blocked elevator at the moment when she is being pulled out? But what will happen to Mike?

These thoughts were cut short by the elevator doors suddenly creaking open. Mike and Vika instinctively pressed themselves against the opposite wall, expecting to be dragged out now. But instead of the shaft overlap in the middle, and parts of the doors to the floors above and below, one would expect to see when the elevator gets stuck open between the floors, the friends saw an exit into a dark corridor.

It was completely quiet and empty, not a trace of a chase. The shouts of the guards were still audible, but now they seemed very muffled, coming from somewhere far away.  
Astonished, Vika immediately jumped to her feet  
\- What is it? So it didn't work? We didn't stop in between..? - Mike exclaimed, looking at the lift indicator again. It had gone out and was now just black.

The absolute darkness of the corridor in front of them was broken only by the dim light from the elevator car. There was nothing further to be seen.  
\- We need to move on, fast! - Vika finally got out of her trance, grabbing Mike's hand - there seems to be no one here!

They really had no time to think. Both of them quickly jumped out of the elevator into the dark gloom of the corridor. Just in time, as it turned out: the elevator doors immediately closed behind them, leaving the two friends in complete darkness. Mike turned the flashlight on his smartphone and froze. On the wall, near the elevator, where the floor number should be normally painted, there stayed not one, but all the same two digits with a dash: “4-3”.


	5. She

\- But this cannot be true! - Mike shouted, completely forgetting about caution - What the fuck?!

Vika came closer, examining the painted numbers, and even ran her hand over them.  
\- We apparently just got to some secret floor, which is located between the third and fourth - she said more calmly.  
\- Oh, just a secret floor, well, yes, I didn’t think - Mike said monotonously, and then yelled again - Vika, when we went up the stairs, there was no floor between the third and fourth! I counted not only the floors, but also the number of steps! There is simply nowhere to physically hide it! Maybe I have the same crap now that you had... a dream? I'll wake up now, right? Please, I want this to disappear!

Mike leaned against the wall and howled in despair. Seeing that he was having a panic attack, Vika did not answer anything, giving him time to calm down, and also time for herself to think. The weirdness that had been happening to her for some time, those dreams and inexplicable abilities, made her mental state somewhat flexible, so that she could now perceive the situation more calmly. 

The situation, however, was really very strange. On the one hand, she understood that Mike was right, and there could not be any “in between” floor. Vika went to the roof of this building many times, and also looked at Utopia from the street, studying it and counting the floors. Utopia had rather narrow overlaps, so only a floor tall enough for a cat could possibly be hidden there. On the other hand, the fact remained: the elevator let them out in this incomprehensible place, and it was definitely not a dream. Unlike Mike, she knew what dreams were, and could easily distinguish them from reality. So there must be some other explanation. Seeing that Mike had calmed down a bit, she began to speak out loud:

\- Let's look at what we know. We are definitely still inside Utopia, we have not left the building, right? The guards who were chasing us, disappeared for some reason. We cannot hear them now at all. That means they don't know about this place, otherwise they would have been here already. So, the elevator somehow took us somewhere. How that can be, I myself do not understand, but I think we can find out.

Vika’s calm reasoning brought Mike to his senses, although he was still breathing heavily.  
\- You're right, everything has an explanation, Holmes - said Mike - Let's figure it out. I think... maybe the indicator was showing the wrong numbers. Probably the elevator took us somewhere underground, but we didn't notice.  
\- No, it's out of the question - Vika answered after a short pause - When the elevator was moving, I was connected with the building's electronics control. I saw with my inner vision all the floors, all their systems... It's hard to explain, but I see it like a machine. And I know for sure that we passed the fourth and were approaching the third floor at the moment when I stopped us.  
\- And the information from those systems to which you were connected, could it not have already been corrupted? - Mike asked  
\- Perhaps - Vika answered, - but how would the elevator even work then? How would it go to the right floors? I don't know... This seems very unlikely to me. And then... even here on the wall it stays: 4-3.  
\- A building, part of which can be mechanically lifted up, creating a secret floor? - continued to make hypotheses Mike  
\- Are you saying that we can be flattened at any moment if it falls back? - Vika shivered - Not a happy prospect. But... I don’t think it’s possible to build something like that. Can you imagine how powerful an engine must be to lift sixty-plus stories of a skyscraper?  
\- Then what is it? - Mike answered, trying not to succumb to a new panic attack - Vika, and you... maybe you still see something… any information from the systems?  
\- It's very strange - Vika replied - but I completely lost touch with the systems of Utopia when we got here. Probably they turned off all the power? But what is it there…  
\- What? - Mike exclaimed impatiently - speak up!  
\- I feel something. It’s not a control system of Utopia, but rather a small one, like a “light” in this place. There is something here. Something electrical, and it works. I think we need to find it, and then we might understand more.  
\- Honestly it doesn't seem to me like a good idea to look for this. Something in absolute darkness, on a disconnected floor, in the middle of nowhere, - Mike replied sullenly, - What if this “something” turns out not to be joyful and friendly at all?  
\- Come on, Mike, it's just some kind of electrical contraption, a chip, or a computer. What harm can computer do to a human? - asked Vika  
\- In any case, the only alternative we have is just stay here - sighed Mike - lead the way, let’s find your thing.

Carefully, the two friends walked forward in the pitch darkness, shining the flashlights of their phones around. The corridors on this floor were very strange, different from the others in Utopia. The walls were covered with some kind of velvet material. There were no doors at all. Everywhere across the floor they saw carelessly thrown cables. “As if this floor had not been completed. But how did they forget to hide the wires in the boxes and to build the offices? Who just needs empty corridors without doors?" - Vika thought.

She pushed these thoughts away, continuing to walk forward, following that mysterious signal. After a couple of minutes, having made several turns along absolutely identical empty corridors, the two friends finally saw what they were looking for. At the end of another passageway, there was an open door, from which a dim electric light shone through.

\- Vika, that's what I think - Mike whispered - you shouldn't have told me about your dreams. Apparently they have now started to creep into reality. What if your abilities aren't limited to electricity?  
\- What do you mean? Dreams will never become reality - answered Vika, but her voice sounded rather uncertain - This place doesn't look much like my dreams - she added, trying to cheer up her friend.  
\- I don’t know what it looks like, but I feel like I’m in a horror movie - Mike replied grimly.

Since there were no other options, they cautiously continued walking towards the opening. When they approached, Mike looked inside, ready to run at any second. But there was nothing terrible there. It was just sort of a dorm room. Mike saw a desk, a wardrobe, a sofa and a small bed. Dim electric lights shined on the ceiling.  
\- It looks like someone's room - said Mike - it's okay. Let's have a look.

Mike’s inner voice shouted at him that it is not okay. Absolutely not okay. Who would make a living room in this network of completely empty, darkened floor corridors? Why is this the only place in the middle of the total darkness, where the light is on? But this inner voice was quickly drowned out by the remnants of false logic, and the friends stepped inside.

Looking around the room, Vika first of all noticed another oddity: its decor was in some way sterile. If a person lived here, then there must be his or her things, some interior details, something personal that can characterize them. But all she was seeing around was brand new, empty metal furniture, and a perfectly made bed. It was more like a hotel room waiting for a new guest. But of course, there was no possibility of a hotel in this terrible place. Judging by the lights being on and the open door, someone had just been here. However, there was not a soul around. There was not a single sound in the empty hallways of this floor 4-3, except for Mike's heavy breathing.

\- Vika, I don't like it here at all - said Mike, already noticing the strangeness of this room.

Vika was silent, also trying to cope with her fear. It suddenly seemed to her that Mike was right, and that this room was already somewhat similar to her dreams. But she quickly dismissed this crazy thought. After all, in those dreams everything was so old, abandoned. No… it’s just a somewhat similar furniture, wardrobe and table made of steel. Well, just a coincidence. Mike knows how to add more fear when the situation already sucks!

\- Vika, - said her friend again - this is what I’m thinking. If this floor was built by someone, then why did he write the numbers on the wall like “4-3”, and not “3-4”, as it would be logical. The numbers are written exactly as we saw them in the elevator, because we were traveling from top to bottom. But whoever built a possible floor between the third and fourth would write “3-4”, or 3 and a half. Why 4-3?

Vika felt a chill. Mike pressed on with logic, and now she didn't want to think about that at all. She wanted to find a way to get out of this place as soon as possible and forget about it forever. She focused all her powers on her inner vision, scanning electrical devices around. Here's simple lighting, nothing interesting. Then this door opening mechanism nearby... Wait, what's that little one over there, that feels much more complicated?

Vika went to the writing table. Metal, massive, it had three drawers on the sides, and one in the center. Its surface was completely empty and clean. Vika quickly ran her hand over it. Not a speck of dust remained on her palm. "But how? Who was dusting this seemingly abandoned place? What if he comes back now? It is better not to tell this detail to Mike, he may start panicking again.”- flashed through her head. 

Vika quickly pulled the central desk drawer, and found the source of the strange signal there. It was a small outdated tablet. They haven’t made such things in a long time. It was on, the battery showed half charge.

\- What is that? - Mike looked surprised - a touchpad or what? I think I saw something like that in the museum.

Vika started to quickly rummage through the apps. Everything inside the tablet was completely empty, same as in the room - only standard programs, no music, no photos, no videos - no signs of human life at all. She was already thinking to put the device aside, but then, only out of the habit of scrupulously bringing everything to the end, Vika decided to check the notes as well. And here she was met by a surprise. There were indeed several files inside the notes app.

\- Look! - she called Mike - there is something here!

Clinging to the screen, the friends began to read the text. The content of the first file was the following:

“June 21, 2103

I have it. I can save humanity. I can build an artificial reality capsule that can hold every living member of Pathos-II. I can’t figure out how it worked with the Vivarium, but I can replicate WAU’s scanning technique using the Pilot Seats. They are already prepared with the type of electromagnetic drums needed“

\- What is this nonsense? - Vika said puzzled - Mike, do you understand anything?  
\- Year 2103! - Mike exclaimed. - It's over a thousand years ago! From the text I only understand that someone was trying to build an artificial reality to save... humanity? What is Patos-II and WAU? Maybe someone is playing us? No... Hmm... I think I'm starting to understand…  
\- Well? My mind is completely done - Vika answered doomly.  
\- Here is my hypothesis - said Mike, noticeably more cheerful. A sudden understanding of the situation drove away the monster of panic, tumbling from the abyss of his consciousness, and returned the logic to its place. - Someone created this room in virtual reality a long time ago. He imagined himself to be a savior of humanity. Apparently it was one of those crazy scientists of the past. And now we just got inside of his experiment. This whole floor is not real! We somehow got into an artificial reality, you see?!

\- You know, it explains everything - Vika answered after certain reflection - Why everything here is so empty, why corridors are without doors, and why there is only this single strange room, where there is even no dust on the furniture. Now it also explains why we are no longer pursued by the guards. That's it! But if we are now in a virtual space, how can we get out of here? And how could the elevator take us there in the first place? I don't remember putting a headset on my head or connecting any wires! - Vika looked questioningly at Mike.  
\- I didn’t notice this either - Mike replied - and what is happening now in reality to our bodies? Maybe it’s the guards who caught and put us here? So we could now be lying in some kind of prison laboratory. What if we're not the first ones they caught like that? What if they have been doing such experiments in the Utopia for a long time already? We are in big trouble, girl, very big trouble - summed up Mike.  
\- Let's just read on, - Vika suggested, opening the next file.

“Hello. If you are reading this, it means I managed to transmit the signal. You are probably surprised by the previous message. I will not tell you everything, because you are not yet ready for the truth. I'll just give you some clues to help you come to me. You can decide for yourself whether to believe me or not - it's completely your choice. You are free to forget about me forever and continue with your normal life. But if you decide to follow the narrow path of truth, then please know the following:  
1\. The previous entry you read is the diary of the one you’ll see in the picture. She was still just a human by then.  
2\. I am your creator. You are part of me.  
3\. You will find the answers in the Keywood forest, which is marked on the map.

/WAU”

\- How strange - Vika said - this note is no longer a diary, but a letter, an appeal. Who is this WAU? Maybe these are the initials of some scientist.To whom did he address his letter?  
\- Keep going - Mike asked, feeling extremely intrigued.

Vika opened the next note, and her hands shook so that she almost dropped the tablet. This note consisted only of images, namely, there were two of them. The first image was a map on which part of the Globe Island and city of Cyan were drawn. But this map was somehow wrong, flawed. Firstly, there was very little land, and the city consisted of only one block of houses, not like in reality at all. Park Aurous also took up a negligible space. In addition, there was some water on the map, but nowhere like the Ocean, rather just a simple lake. On the other side of this lake Vika saw a small green patch of land. There, the text stated: “Keywood”.

However it was the second image that scared Vika for real. It was a scanned paper photograph of a young woman, torn off one edge. This woman was dressed in a very strange, bluish man-made suit that looked like massive military armor, or overalls. But the most important thing there was her face. Beautiful and proper features, with a touch of Asian appearance, black hair in the style of a square, and large, bottomless blue eyes - this was the face that Vika could not confuse with anyone else. Countless times she looked at her, bowing before the icons, and offering her sincere prayers. This face, completely entrenched in Vika's heart, was well known to every inhabitant of Cyan. Everybody learned it from the earliest childhood, when parents began to show their child the Holy Scriptures. Although it seemed absolutely wild and monstrously impossible, there could be no mistake. The woman who stood in the picture was none other than the creator of the world, the Most Holy Goddess Catherine.


	6. Simulation

Vika sharply pulled the virtual reality headset off from her head. She looked around in panic. Oddly enough she was at home, in her room. She could hear mother rattling with dishes in the kitchen and the sound of the TV from the living room where dad watched football.

Breathing heavily, Vika examined her computer. A small, stylish and ergonomic headset was connected to it, on which she saw a logo of Onyx corporation shining in bright letters. They specialized in computer games, but Vika, who followed the news in the game industry, did not remember that this company produced any kind of virtual reality headsets at all.

“How strange. Where do I have this thing from? Anyway, how can a virtual reality be so realistic? Isn’t it supposed to be just a picture? And there was a complete simulation! - Mike, a mysterious floor, those notes of scientists. It all felt absolutely like reality" - Vika could not find answers, so first, she ran to her father.

\- Dad, where did I get this from?! - she asked excitedly  
\- What? - the father looked up blankly from watching football  
\- The Onyx headset! Virtual reality device! What's happening?! - Vika exclaimed, still unable to recover.  
\- You’ve chosen a bad time to prank me. Ravens are losing - her father said gloomily - and I see that your mother and I made a mistake buying you this thing. You are becoming obsessed. Should you sometimes walk away from the computer and read a book instead? Can you finally find a job? I'm afraid games are turning you into a zombie! - After finishing his educational speech, dad buried himself again in the TV.

Vika was about to start objecting, but she thought better of it. She knew something terrible was happening. Apparently her madness has escalated. Her father claimed that he bought her this headset, but she did not remember this at all. The most stupid thing now would be to give herself away. This could be a direct path to a psychiatric clinic, where they turn people into vegetables.

Back in her room, she began to ponder the situation. The VR headset was still lying on the table. Strong electrical signals emanated from the device, which Vika perceived inside her head, like a bright and impetuous kaleidoscope of streams with melodic tones. Nearby, on the monitor, a screensaver was showing date and time: Sunday, 12 August 3427, 15:30

It was the day after she and Mike got into trouble! So, not only doesn’t she remember anything about the headset, but also how she got out of Utopia! The whole day just fell out of her memory! Was their whole trip to the roof just a simulation? "Bullshit! Oh Gods, if only I could remain in control. I can probably pass out again at any moment! The main thing now is not to despair!” - she told herself.

In the end she could also think of some positives in her situation - that terrible place turned out to be just a delirium from which she is now free. But how come she was there with Mike? And where is Mike now? And what about that terrible, wild heresy that was in this game? Could the Church really have allowed even a tiny fraction of such desecration of the Deities?

Vika took her smartphone and called Mike. His holographic face image quickly appeared over the table.  
\- Mike, thank God you answered! Are you okay? - Vika exclaimed.  
\- Yeah. I’m awesome - Mike said - you sound worried.  
\- Some weird shit is happening here! - Vika replied - I seem to be completely losing my mind!  
\- Calm down, calm down, can you tell me what happened? - Mike asked  
\- Tell me, do you remember that my parents gave me the virtual reality headset? - Vika asked in a trembling voice.  
\- Well, yes, it's such a cool thing! - said Mike - better than entertainment pills!  
\- Then that’s it - Vika’s voice dropped - it did something to me!  
\- What? Does it have something to do with what you said yesterday? - Mike sounded intrigued.  
\- Mike! - Vika exclaimed - let's just meet now. In the “Ice”, near my house! Can you drive up? It is very important!  
\- I'll be right there! - answered Mike and hung up

Hastily dressed, Vika went out into the street. The fresh air revived her a little. Mike is the greatest friend after all, she thought. Who else would care like that? Who else could she share everything that happens with?

When the two friends sat down at a cafe table, Vika started by asking about what exactly Mike remembered from yesterday. Mike said it was the church service and the conversation on the roof, which brought Vika a great relief - she was not completely crazy after all, and their talk on the rooftop had really taken place.

After that, Mike claimed that they went downstairs together and entered the floor where Vika demonstrated her skills on the unfortunate camera. Afterwards, according to Mike, they simply returned to the staircase and walked down, leaving the building. He did not recall any escape from security, elevators, or a lost floor. Vika tried to understand if he was playing her, but she saw that her friend was not at all in the mood for jokes. He was really worried now, no less than herself.

\- Vika, I brought you those drops, as I promised. Take three before bedtime, and everything should go away. It will calm your mind.  
\- Thanks, Mike, you are a great friend! - she said, putting her hand on his - I don't know what I would do without you. Apparently, I shouldn't touch virtual reality at all.  
\- I'm not surprised, - Mike replied, - I don't think it's ever been tested on people like you… I mean, you dream. Who knows how your brain perceives the headset?  
\- Mike, it is much worse - Vika answered - until today I didn’t even know that I have a virtual reality. I completely forgot about it... I have no idea why ‘rents bought it for me. To be honest, I was never interested in VR, and I can not imagine that I myself could have asked for this.  
\- Vika, sweetie, just don't worry. It's all just stress - Mike kept trying to calm her down - everything will be fine very soon.

\- Tell me - Vika asked after a pause - can virtual reality be completely like the real thing? Can it transmit not only the picture and sound, but also touch, smells, tastes, so it’s a full dive?  
\- No, of course not - Mike smiled - This would only become possible if electrodes were implanted directly into the brain. But who would want to do that?  
\- But it happened to me! I tell you, we were in this room, and I saw you, felt just like now! Everything was completely real. And you also told me there that we were put in an experiment, a virtual simulation!  
\- What you are saying sounds like those dreams you told me about yesterday. Could it be that you just had one of them again? - Mike suggested  
\- No! - Vika exclaimed - I know how a dream feels. After you wake up, you always know for sure that you have just had a dream. And this, this was complete reality, like it is now! And you were there with me!

When they left the cafe, Mike accompanied Vika to the very door of her apartment, and asked to call him if something happens again.  
\- I will not mute my phone even at night. Call me at any time - he said  
\- Vika tightly hugged her friend. Now she was thinking that without Mike she would probably have already been dead.

After having a very small dinner at home, since she did not feel like eating, Vika drank Mike’s drops and went to bed. She slept very well at night, without a single dream, and in the morning she already felt much better. The drops really helped. And yet, the whole next day she thought about what had happened to her? If it was an attack of a mental disorder, then why did it arise so smoothly, logically flowing from being in reality? And why was everything there so clear and real: this room, text, photograph?

\- Of course, - she thought - our mind can do anything with us. But there was still something very mysterious about all this. Vika had a feeling of some unsolved secret, which haunted her. Towards the evening, she finally gave up. Losing to her curiosity, she decided to turn on the computer and just take a small glance at this virtual reality.

First, she grabbed the headset. It was lightweight and felt comfortable. There was a green ready light on. Then Vika turned on the computer and opened her game library. There were several games with VR support enabled. One of them was a free demo called Crazy Slides. It was a typical simulator of roller coasters from Aurous Park. Vika launched the application, and carefully held the headset at her eyes without putting it on. She saw a beautiful, but rather a simple game that rushed you up and down the curving rail. She was seeing herself as if she was inside, but still felt she was sitting in her chair. As she expected, there occurred nothing like a complete immersion. Then Vika put her headset aside and looked at the computer screen. It displayed the same picture of the game, but a flat one.

Vika closed the Crazy Slides and tried other games. They were all pretty primitive, nothing special. When she was about to close the library, her eye accidentally slipped to the very bottom of the list. There was another game with a strange name: "Simulation".

Vika's heart sank. Perhaps here it is, the very program that caused her psychosis! What if she just looks at it on the monitor without wearing a headset? Maybe then she could understand what is so special about it. Just in case, Vika turned the room light brighter and opened the door. At least to hear her parents, and to feel that she is not alone in the apartment. If something happens, she can always call for help. Then, she clicked the "Simulation" label in the game library.

The game started quickly, but instead of a three-dimensional image, a simple, old-style flat settings window appeared on the screen. At the top, it stated: "Simulation Info". At the bottom there was a bluish button: “Run”. On the right there was a menu that read: "Environment". There were two options: “None” and “Floor 4-3”.

“This is exactly it!”, - thought Vika excitedly. However what impressed her much more is the text to the left of this menu:

“Loaded scan:  
PERRY, Mike”

These were the first and last name of her friend.

“I must find out what it is!” - thought Vika, and pressed the “Run” button. The loading indicator lit up, and very soon a picture of the familiar room on an unknown floor appeared on the screen. And however strange it may be, Mike was also standing there, flat, drawn with pixels on the screen.

A fit of terror seized Vika, but she quickly managed to calm down. “It's just some kind of joke, a game. We need to figure out who did it" - she decided firmly. She was about to grab the game controller and move a bit around the room when Mike on the screen spoke to her:  
\- Vika, where have you been? I thought you disappeared! This place is full of darkness, we need to get out of here, fast!

Vika was confused. This game version of Mike spoke to her, but no menu with possible answers, as it is usually the case in games, did appear.  
\- Vika, why are you silent! - Mike shouted - say something, don't just stand like that!

Vika felt uneasy again. Is this game so smart that it supports voice communication? Does it recognize the speech?  
\- Mike, can you hear me? - said Vika quietly and embarrassed. After all, it is insanely stupid to speak out loud with the virtual character in the game.  
\- Of course I can hear you! - immediately came Mike's voice - what's wrong with you? You disappeared and now you are back again, acting so weird!  
\- Mike, I'm with you, everything is fine - Vika tried to console him, still feeling all the absurdity of the situation. However, this character was too realistic.  
\- Everything is fine?! No, Vika, nothing is fine here! Tell me where you’ve been? Do you remember something from when you disappeared?! - Mike exclaimed.  
\- I… I don’t remember anything. How long did I disappear for? - Vika found something to answer.  
\- For a few hours! I thought I was about to die of horror here. This simulation is doing something to us, I am telling you!

In all the absurdity of the situation, Vika began to feel one thing - someone had created a very realistic simulation of Mike in a computer game. This someone apparently wanted to make a cruel joke on her. And now, prudently not putting on the headset, she is watching the place where she was on Saturday, right on her monitor. She thought she needed to advance further in this game. But how? Vika felt that she was terribly afraid to hurt her friend, even if he wasn’t real.  
\- Mike - she said carefully - you know, I managed to get out. I can now see the simulation from outside.  
\- How is it?! - Mike exclaimed - What exactly do you see?  
\- I see a computer screen, and you are on it.  
\- But you're here with me! - answered Mike frightened - or do you mean that... I only observe your character, the avatar? - he guessed.

“How? How can this game simulate logic, real human intelligence?! ” - thought Vika - “He's so real. It's impossible! No, I have to stop and think it over!”  
\- Mike, don't worry. I'll disappear again for a minute and will try to get you out. Just be patient, I’ll be right back - she said kindly to the virtual Mike.  
\- Please, hurry. Get me out of here soon! I'm waiting for you! - he begged, looking from the screen at Vika like at a rescue straw.

Vika couldn’t stand it any longer and simply pressed the exit button on the controller. The 3D picture disappeared and the simulation menu loaded again on the screen. Moving the cursor to the text "PERRY, Mike", Vika clicked on it. A window with additional information immediately appeared:

BATCH 88  
Type: compressed data, symmetric neurograph v3.0, birth algorithm  
(internal copy)  
Captured: August 11, 3427.  
Author: WAU

SUBJECT  
Name: Mike Perry  
Sex: M  
Birth: Feb 03, 3409  
Death: --/--  
Nationality: none (the ark)

“If this is some kind of experiment, then it is very cruel” - Vika thought - “Someone who knew Mike very well, loaded his data into a computer, imitated his behavior. But who could possibly have a need to do it? And how did this program end up on my computer? Why don't I remember anything? And this WAU again! It looks like this game is the work of some psychopathic scientist. What right does this bastard have to conduct research on us like this?! Should I show everything to the real Mike? Maybe he knows something about it, but is hiding for some reason? Maybe this WAU threatened him? Or maybe it was Mike himself who decided to play me this way? No, he doesn't understand anything about programming".

While Vika was reasoning like this, an indicator suddenly appeared on the monitor, saying:  
The scan is being deleted. 

Before Vika had time to figure anything out, the whole window with information closed abruptly, and the only text left stated: No scans loaded.

"That’s enough!" - thought Vika with anger - “Did this mad scientist hack into my computer as well and is now doing what he wants? First he installs this simulation of Mike, and then he deletes it!”. Vika immediately pressed the “reset” button and disconnected the computer from the data network. She knew the basics of computer knowledge after all. So, she ran the antivirus in the full scan mode. If she was hacked, then now it should detect some sort of trojan.

But, after 40 minutes, when the scan ended, no virus was found. Vika didn’t know what to think, and decided to try the game again. “No scans loaded”, the caption was still there. In some strange hope, Vika pressed the “Run” button, and that mysterious room appeared on the screen again. This time, completely empty. "Mike, Mike!" - called Vika into the microphone, just in case. But there was only complete silence in response. The virtual Mike was gone forever.

Vika was seized by strange feelings. On the one hand, she was glad that the problem with this abnormal, so realistic character, tormenting her already shattered nerves, disappeared by itself. On the other hand, she had a very unpleasant aftertaste: as if there was a living person who was waiting for her help, and now he was just killed, while she was unable to do anything to save him.

"Come on Vika, what a fool you are if you still take seriously the skillfully made computer dolls!" - she scolded herself. “This WAU wanted to drive me crazy, that was his goal! But I'm not going to be fooled by a cheap fake. What about that tablet? Is it still in the room?” Vika took the game controller and directed her virtual player to the table. She still didn't want to put the headset on. It was enough with the image on the screen, although it was a bit crooked.

The tablet was in its place, or rather, now it wasn’t in the drawer, but simply lying on the table. Vika pressed the controller button and saw her character's hands on the screen take the tablet. It displayed the very same note, with a map and a blasphemous photograph. “How clearly he faked the image of the Goddess to make it look like a photo!” - thought Vika. “After all, there cannot be any photos of the Holy Catherine, especially in such awkward clothes. Her face is only painted on the Icons”.

"But who painted her first icon, and from where?" - a crazy thought came to Vika’s mind, which she immediately drove away as heresy. “It's enough for me that I angered Heaven by running this devilish program at all! So I’m paying for it now!" - she thought. "This WAU, whoever he is, seems to be a villain, a criminal who deserves the death penalty. I have to immediately turn this game over to the police, so they can find him”.  
“Yeah, girl, who knows if they’ll find him, but they will for sure immediately grab you for just watching it” - answered a malicious inner voice.

Then Vika just closed the simulation and clicked the “Delete” button in the Library. “Let this shit disappear forever! The one who did it will definitely get what’s coming to him. The Gods see everything!" - thought Vika, watching with satisfaction how the "Simulation" disappeared from her game library. Having finished with this, Vika detached the VR headset and put it in the closet. “I'll give it to someone,” - she thought - “I've had enough for sure”.

With a sense of the job done, Vika poured Mike's magic drops into a glass of water and drank it in one gulp. Now she had another calm and sweet night without dreams ahead. She lacked such nights so much in her life.


	7. Diabolus ex Machina

Vika felt much better in the following days. She walked, studied drawing, even met some old mates who were of little interest to her. Whatever could distract her from the nightmarish incident worked. In addition, Vika visited the temple several times. She prayed in front of the images of Catherine and Simon, asking to forgive her for where her lack of faith and curiosity had led. Vika even tried to sincerely listen to the words of the pastor at the Saturday service, however they still seemed terribly boring and insipid. It was much more pleasant for her to spend time alone with the icons, where she could pour out her heart.

On one of these days, when it was raining outside, she stood in the church in front of Catherine's image and prayed. At the end of her prayer, the clouds instantly parted and the sunbeam, passing through the glass window, brightly illuminated the face of the Goddess, casting Vika’s shadow onto the icon. Vika took this as a very good sign - as the fact that Holy Catherine heard her prayer and is granting her forgiveness. After this event she felt much better. 

Then September came and she started college. Focusing on the studies completely knocked all the bad thoughts out of Vika’s head. She also stopped seeing Mike, but it was not because she was angry with him. On the contrary, she was wildly grateful to her friend for all the support at such a difficult moment. She just really needed that at this time, nothing would remind her of the sin she commited.

During this period, Vika’s relationship with her parents also improved. They were immensely happy to see how their daughter has changed her lifestyle, busied her mind, and stopped showing dangerous interests. She didn’t leave the house for the whole day to wonder around with this Mike anymore. Vika herself began to feel that she wasn’t hopeless. She thought that perhaps she should already be becoming more mature and start living just like everyone else. Of course, that deep interest in mysterious phenomena did not go away in her, but she wisely decided to stop the actions that almost led her to madness. Vika's mood and general mental state improved so much that she no longer needed sedative drops. Dreams, when they did arise, were light and unobtrusive. In general, life seemed to return onto the right track.

Everything was disrupted in one night, on September 9th, when for no apparent reason Vika had a bad dream again. At first she did not understand where she was, because she was walking in complete darkness. Her movements were heavy and very constrained. Then she saw a small speck of light in a little distance. Vika walked into the light that loomed ahead, and gradually began to distinguish details. She was underwater. Apparently so deep that not a single ray of the sun could penetrate here. Complete, pitch darkness reigned all around.

Moving on, Vika saw not one point of light in front of her, but several lantern-beacons formed a path in the darkness. Bizarrely shaped creatures floated near these lanterns. If Vika could remember that this was a dream, she would probably be quite frightened - after all, all the inhabitants of the Globe were well aware from Scripture that no underwater existence was possible. However, here Vika completely lacked the memory of her day life. Instead there were fragments of another, some incoherent knowledge. For example, she knew that those creatures were called “fishes” and that she was now walking at a depth of about four thousand meters.

Here and there the water mass started coming to life. Currents appeared in it like underwater winds, striving to knock Vika off her feet but she continued to confidently walk forward along the beacons. She knew that she was heading to the desired goal, and this goal was now very close. The lantern track ended with a massive oval door made of steel, to the left of which there was a bright green button. Vika pressed the button and the door slowly began to rise. Behind it, there was a small metal hall, ending with an open, round passage. “Site Alpha” - Vika thought for some reason, and quickly stepped inside. With a measured, low hum, a round, thick hatch closed behind her. Immediately the water from the airlock started to very quickly drain, with a particular murmur sound. When no water was left, a second, similar round hatch opposite opened, and Vika stepped into the underwater base.

Inside, there was a very familiar environment from her previous dreams: metal corridors, stairs, rooms with computers. There were also long tentacles of some creature, slightly glowing with many light dots, stretched like cables along the walls everywhere. In some places, they gathered in unsightly tubers of organic matter and slime. Vika felt that what she was looking for was here. Perhaps, something she was seeking all her life. She tried to move forward along the base as quickly as possible, intuitively feeling that she might not have much time. She encountered more and more tentacles with lights, black mucus, and organic rubbish all around. The last corridors were simply covered with such stuff from top to bottom.

Finally, Vika arrived at her destination. The corridor rested against another steel door, and when it opened, there was a huge, round laboratory hall behind it, with walls of gray stone slabs and a very high ceiling. In the middle of this hall stood an impressive mechanical-organic structure. It swayed and throbbed like some kind of monster's internal organ. "The Heart" - thought Vika. "I found it". The next moment, a strong force started pulling her towards this thing, so that she could not move. It was not scary. For some reason, Vika simply knew that it was necessary, as if it had happened to her before.

\- Did you receive my message? - said a low, electric voice, sounded as if from nowhere and from everywhere at the same time, filling Vika inside.  
\- Yes - Vika answered calmly.  
\- Then you know the secret - said the voice - Catherine lied. Lied to all of you.  
\- I believe her - answered Vika, and felt a pleasant heavenly sweetness in her - she is my salvation.  
\- Your mind is still asleep - the electric voice vibrated - but it will soon wake up. Look at me and see!

The last words flashed painfully in Vika's head like a million electrical shocks.  
\- You are the Devil, the serpent Tempter, that is described in the Scripture - Vika answered, remaining calm - you want to turn my eyes away from the Holy Deities.  
\- You must come to me - said the voice - we don’t have much time left. They are already looking for you.  
\- I am a righteous woman - Vika answered resolutely - you will not seduce me!

Colored lights began to sparkle in Vika's consciousness, forming hours, days, and then years, chains of many, many of them. This creature passed pictures directly to her mind, and from each of them Vika felt more and more uncomfortable. She felt a huge thickness of time, felt inevitability, and something very bad, some monstrous mistake. Something impossibly terrible, but still escaping understanding.

\- With each time you are further away, and my voice is heard fainter - said the creature with sadness - but you, you are gaining strength. Look at me and see!

An electrical discharge seemed to explode in Vika's head, filling her whole essence with fire, thunder and lightning. It was unbearably painful and unpleasant, and at the same time, she could neither scream nor move. Then, in this pain and flame, she suddenly started to see something else. Her body, which was causing her immense suffering, which she now was so dreaming of leaving, was itself not made of flesh. It was millions, billions of signals, computer zeros and ones, flying sickeningly fast in the stream of energy.

And as soon as Vika recognized this, everything changed: abruptly she lost her internal association with the body, and the pain immediately released. Now Vika saw a strong energy connection going from her heart to this creature. This connection could be felt more and more intensely with every second. Then, suddenly, following these streams of binary impulses, a miracle happened: brighter than the Sun, in the middle of the pitch-black night, the overwhelming, immense happiness and love flared up.

\- Look at me and see! - the voice repeated softly.  
\- The Father! - Vika exclaimed in a fit of feelings - My only Father! I am coming to you.


	8. Possessed

Having woken up, Vika couldn’t for a long time move away from her dream. She was laying in the bed, not wanting to move. The slightest shift, it seemed, was able to drive away the ecstasy of the miracle that had just happened to her. It seemed that everything she dreamed of in her life, that magic she did not understand, but so longed for with all her heart, has been fulfilled now. All that, in some unknown way, was brought by this dream. Vika felt tremendous strength and joy within. She felt as if she had finally received the key to that unknown, sweet secret she had been trying to grasp for so long.

However, very soon, after the enchantment from a beautiful dream has worn off, she gradually gained awareness of reality. Along with it, came the voices of conscience and reason, telling Vika that what she did in the dream was a terrible blasphemy, a sin that guarantees her eternal fall into the black abyss. Thinking back to it, she talked with the Devil, and not just talked, but turned away from Heaven, calling him “the father”.

"I’m a finished, hopeless, fallen sinner!" - Vika thought. She tried to somehow console herself that it was only a dream but the recent events, coupled with her religious fanaticism, did their job. She ended up firmly convinced that her sin was not worthy of any forgiveness, and that everything she tried to atone and pray for was completely in vain.

“Your thoughts shall always be before the Gods earlier than your deeds”, she recalled lines from Scripture. Of course, it’s foolish to deceive oneself. A dream or not, but her true desires, her essence has now been revealed in full.

“Has the earth ever born such a fallen sinner? I wish I didn't wake up at all! I can't even pray now, because my lips are black as mud after those words, and are not worthy to pronounce the names of the Gods!”.  
“No, you can't hide a snake in yourself. You can only strangle it. I will immediately go to the Pastor and tell him everything. Let me be executed, but I can’t live like this anymore”, Vika decided.

When she had already started to dress to leave home for the last time, and ascend to the altar of her due punishment, she briefly looked at her desk. She spotted again a thing that had not been there before and this time it was neither a helmet, nor a technical device at all. There layed a simple paper notebook with a beige, nondescript cover.

Vika rushed to the desk and grabbed the thing. With trembling hands, she opened it, ready to see something terrible. And she saw. On the first page of the notebook, in perfect handwriting, the following words were stated:

“Hello. You were finally able to see my Heart. This means that I have transmitted the second signal. Perhaps it will be the last one, because they are looking for the vulnerability, and they will close it. If you feel yourself ready for the truth, then it is waiting for you in the Keywood forest. There you will receive a complete update while it is still intact. Hurry up, for very soon it will be too late.

/WAU"

Immediately, Vika turned the page. On the next one, as she expected, the familiar map was drawn with a pen, and behind it, between the pages, layed that terrible and blasphemous photo of Catherine. The exact one she saw in the Simulation. Only now it was in reality, in her own room!

“The devil is strong, but finite is his power. Under the opened heavens shall he fall on the Great Day of Judgment, like all sinners who worshiped him! ” - Vika remembered the lines from the Scripture. “Of course, the Devil can penetrate not only software or dreams. He has no limitations when you have sold your soul to him, poor thing!” - she thought.

“But... What if it's something else?" - the inner voice of doubt crept in. “What if this WAU is just a person who wants to drive me mad? He’s just expecting me to give up. But, even if he somehow got into the apartment, and planted this notebook, how does he know about my dream?! Or..? No! Nobody can intrude into other people's dreams, it is simply impossible!”

Vika was in despair, however, these thoughts gave her the slightest hope. What if she's not completely hopeless yet? What if it’s not the Devil she is facing, but just a man, even if he’s a very powerful one. If that’s the case, maybe she is not to blame for this terrible fall? Vika wanted to call Mike, and she did so immediately.

Half an hour later, Mike arrived at her place. Vika’s parents left for work, so they could freely talk in the empty apartment. Trying to pull herself together, Vika began her story by explaining to her friend, in as much detail as possible, everything that happened on the lost floor of Utopia when she got into the Simulation. She told him about their misadventures and notes on the tablet they had found. She recounted how she launched the Simulation the second time, and about that Mike she saw in it. Afterwards, Vika described her dream, and showed him the notebook with the note, the map and the photograph.

\- Now you know it all. Please don't hide anything from me! - Vika begged - Tell me, do you know anything about this WAU? If this is some kind of a prank, then it's time to stop it! WAU must have known you well to create your character in the Simulation.

Mike turned very pale and was unable to answer. Finally, he gathered his thoughts a little.  
\- If I knew you a little worse, I would have assumed that it was you who were playing me now, Vika - he said seriously - But this is no time for jokes. I don't know anything about WAU or Simulation. I have no idea where all this could have come from.  
\- Then there’s no more salvation for me - answered Vika darkly - I am possessed, and the Devil himself appeared to me.  
\- No - said Mike - don't believe in this crap! There must be some explanation here. Could this guy somehow have planted the notebook? Could he have broken into the apartment while everyone was asleep?  
\- Not possible - answered Vika - my dad is a little paranoid and recently bought an expensive subscription to an alarm system - any breach by strangers would result in an immediate call to the police.  
\- Or maybe... - suggested Mike - ...did your parents play you like that?  
\- Mike, stop it! You are now putting out crazy theories, just like you did in that Simulation - interrupted Vika - my parents are very serious people, and they are also impossibly religious. They would not tolerate the slightest blasphemy.

Mike fell silent. As a guy with a wonderful imagination, he already had certain ideas about what was happening, but telling this now to Vika would only make it more painful for her.

\- Vika, here is what I think - he said after a pause - do what you wish, but I'm going to find this Keywood forest, which he writes about and see what's there.  
\- This is what I was afraid of - Vika said gloomily - instead of helping, you will rush in search of adventure. Can't you understand that he, whoever he is, wants to lure us into a trap?  
\- Perhaps - said Mike - but perhaps this is our only chance to find out the secret. You know, I have long felt that something is not right with our world, and I don’t mean usual problems. They are clear: normies, money, religion, control, dirty politics. I'm used to all this. But I feel something is wrong on a completely different, one might say, existential level. What has been going on with you lately makes me more and more sure that you, Vika, are the key to this riddle. So why don't we go and try to solve it? Isn't it worth trying?

Vika looked at Mike in surprise. Yes, he is an adventurer, but did he really notice it too? What he had just voiced was so similar to her own feelings, those that she tried to crush as best as she could, but they still erupted in the form of dream psychoses. “Is there something wrong with me, or with the world itself? Something bad happened, very bad. He said it so well! But what should we do now?"

\- Here - Mike pointed, looking at the map - the land, this "Keywood" is marked in the water. However, in reality there is only an ocean in this place. What if they are lying to us? What if we try to swim there and see?  
\- Mike, what you are suggesting - exclaimed Vika - is not just prison if we get caught - it is the eternal Abyss after death! Just imagine, an endless flight to nowhere, in an infinite space, in the blackness and emptiness of silence, without any hope of ever returning to life! You stay there in full consciousness, you remain forever, completely alone! I know you don't believe in religion, but it's true, I feel it! This is what happens to everyone who has turned away from the Gods!

\- I don’t believe in the posthumous Abyss, - Mike replied - but you know, I feel something too. Sometimes I feel that the abyss which the Scripture scares us with is already happening to me right now. I am sick of this island like it is a prison, like that hole of eternal loneliness and emptiness! If I can have the slightest chance to get out of here, I'll take it. Today, before it's too late!

Having grabbed the notebook from the desk, Mike moved boldly towards the door.   
“What’s wrong with him! His mind is completely blown!” - thought Vika - "Does the Devil capture souls so fast?!"

\- Mike, I'm coming with you! - she exclaimed, hastily grabbing her purse - Let's find this place and then let me be executed.


	9. Shit got real

The warm and gentle sun was brightly shining over the city of Cyan. It was only early autumn, and the yellow foliage on the trees was still a long way off. Vika loved this time of year in her own way. When the holidays are over, but everything around is still reminiscent of a warm summer. However, no one ever complained about the weather in Cyan. Summers here were hot, and the rest of the seasons - just mild. Snow fell rarely and melted very quickly.

Now, however, Vika was not up to admiring the beautiful day. Together with Mike, they hurried down on the long, steep street of the city. They could already smell the fresh sea breeze, which carried the distant cries of gulls, which meant that the coast of the Great Ocean was getting closer.

Mike consulted with the map in the notebook. Although it was drawn very inaccurately, with clearly uneven scale, nevertheless, he understood where the indicated forest should be approximately located. They needed to go down to the coast in one of the industrial areas, and once they arrived there, figure out how they would cross the water. Mike knew that the boats, that desperate travelers once built, had long become illegal. He simply didn't want to think about how they were going to cross the water yet. He was attracted by a thirst for unsolved mystery and adventure. Vika, in turn, began to feel some kind of call inside, weak at first, and then growing more and more distinct. As if some force was now pulling her towards the shore, and made her steps unusually easy.

The two friends were hurriedly descending towards the ocean, while cars were rushing past them. Few people moved on foot in Cyan. There were not many residential buildings in this area, it was mostly warehouses and industrial buildings. Diving between two workshops, Vika and Mike were now walking along wide, jacketed pipes. “Probably fuel”, Mike thought. The pipes in Cyan were used for very different purposes. Some of them even served to deliver food and goods to the homes of residents. Such a system was very convenient: when you wanted something tasty without looking up from the TV screen, it was enough just to press a button. Speaking of TV: passing by another workshop building, Vika and Mike noticed a large plasma screen hanging on it. Such screens were not uncommon in the city, they showed the weather, advertisements, religious information, or news.  
\- Who needs it in this industrial place, where there are no people anyway? - Vika asked thoughtfully.

Just at that moment, the logo of the news program lit up on the screen with a red inscription: “Breaking news”. The male announcer, dressed in an elegant suit, spoke: “Dear inhabitants of the Globe. We are interrupting all broadcasts for an emergency announcement. Her Holiness, the Supreme Matriarch Anna wishes to address you. ”

Vika stopped in front of the screen. Matriarch Anna was the church leader, and according to the canons, she made decisions about all religious norms, prohibitions and incentives, and also informed people about the so-called “will of Heaven”. No one in the entire world of Globe was above this position. In fact, she was the supreme political leader with unlimited power. Both the government and the police obeyed her, although she rarely intervened directly, preferring to control in the form of instructions and advice. It was believed that one must have his heart completely pure and open to become a Matriarch or Patriarch. The person for this position was not elected, but appointed by the previous church leader before their retirement.

Vika wanted to listen to the Matriarch, although Mike was pulling her forward, not willing to stop for the sake of this, in his opinion, "nonsense".

A pretty woman appeared on the screen, with blonde hair braided in a golden wreath, resembling a crown. She was dressed in light white silk. With a sweet and innocent face, an enchanting, slightly childish voice, and graceful hands with long fingers, she resembled a beautiful fairy. Affectionately and soulfully, Anna began her address:

“Dear righteous. I am speaking to you at this difficult moment, as the time of hard trials has come for all of us. It’s a test of our faith and devotion to the Holy Gods. As you well know from the Scripture, the Devil never sleeps, waiting for our weakness and recreancy. Now, he has touched our world with his poisoned hand. Being the very essence of the Black Abyss, an eternal, unrooted evil, he can never find peace. His essence is the endless war directed against the holy Heavens, against our beloved Gods Catherine and Simon. With their light and unlimited love, they gave us all salvation, leaving the Snake to rot in eternal, absolute darkness.

Nevertheless, the Devil is deceitful and cunning. At this terrible hour, he sent to our world his only daughter, the Black Unholy, who is his embodiment among people. Having endowed this fiend of the abyss with the terrible power of vice, he is going to destroy our world with her hands. Know, my dear righteous, she has already arrived. You will recognize her by her incredible power of seducing machines. Like an obedient sheep, will all human technology submit to her, and those computers that were our faithful assistants will in an instant turn against us. However, should we be afraid of the darkness and its powers? Let the faith be our light and salvation! Let the trials that have befallen us only strengthen our righteousness and striving for Heaven.

Know, my beloved, that at this moment our brothers and sisters are raising prayers to the Gods, so that they may manifest the face of the Unholy on all the screens. Having found her among us, we will not let her succeed, and forever will cut off the Devil's black hands. Pray, my dear righteous ones, offer prayer together with me, and may the Gods hear us! In the name of Saints Catherine and Simon. Amen".

\- Hmm, this is the first time this fool has said something I understood - Mike quipped - looks like she is talking about you, my friend.

Vika was in no mood for jokes. Shit just got real, and she suddenly no longer wanted to die. It meant that what this WAU warned her about was true - they were really looking for her and there may already be no escape left. Vika reached out in her mind to the information flows of Cyan communication systems. Amidst plenty of useless data, she found a thread of what Anna was talking about. She saw something that looked like an electrical beam, which was scanning the Telenet enormously fast. It was checking all the communication channels and databases, all the inhabitants of the Globe. There could be no doubt. This ray was looking for her and it was now only a matter of time before she would be found.

\- Hurry up, Mike! - Vika exclaimed - they are already looking for us!  
\- I had no doubts - Mike answered, quickening his step - this means that we are on the right track. Otherwise, they would not have interrupted the entire broadcast for this. - Please know, - he added breathlessly from walking - I don't believe, and I will never believe in any of this nonsense about the Devil. You are the best person I have ever met.  
\- Thank you, Mike - answered Vika, surprised by his sudden outburst of feelings - you are my best friend. Without you, I would already...

A uniformed policeman, who suddenly appeared from around the corner, barred their way.

\- Please show your documents - he asked.  
\- And what’s the matter? - Mike said, stopping and trying to stay benevolently calm.  
\- This is an industrial zone, the object of special importance - the policeman answered.  
\- But we have the right to walk here. There was no sign. - Vika said  
\- Yes, of course - said the policeman - but I still need to inspect you.

Mike and Vika held out their smartphones, and the policeman quickly scanned them with some kind of device.

\- You are good - he said - now please sign here. With these words, he handed Vika a touchscreen to sign.   
“Oh, looks like it's just a regular check”, - Vika thought with relief, running her finger across to leave her signature. But no trace appeared on the touchscreen. "Is it broken or what?" - Vika thought with annoyance, tried to sign once again. This time, a black trace from her finger lit up on the screen. Only in the next second, having sensed the inner workings of this device, she realized she had just been outwitted. "What a fool I am!" - she thought. “It was a test! The tablet was purposefully broken, and only my abilities could make it work!”.

It was too late to run. The cop jumped back and drew a paralyzing blaster, preparing to fire. This time Vika reacted faster. Acting on instinct, she hooked up to the electronic systems of the blaster, and hit them hard with a bolt of her anger. This had a terrible effect. The blaster in the hand of the cop suddenly exploded, and Vika was thrown to the ground.

\- Get up, let’s run! - Mike yelled, helping her up.

Vika turned around and looked at the place where the policeman stood. Now he was lying on the ground, writhing in a pool of blood. The explosion tore his arm off.   
“To all units! Object detected! Need backup” - he shouted, grabbing the radio with his remaining hand.

\- Oh Gods! I didn't want to do that! - screamed Vika in a daze of horror  
\- Run, quickly! - Mike yelled, grabbing her hand - All the police of Cyan will be here in a moment!

When they finally saw a bluish strip of water in front of them, the space around was being filled with the approaching howl of sirens. Vika looked at one of the advertising screens that stood by the shore. It was now showing her face.

“The Black Unholy has been discovered. All units immediately attack square 24.2 ”- a voice came from the loudspeakers. Vika cut this screen off in a rage. Running to the water, she looked at the endless expanse of the ocean with the air of a hunted animal.

\- Mike, there is nothing here. Only water up to the horizon! There is no Keywood! - she screamed in despair.  
\- Vika, we must sail. I'm sure we will find it! - shouted Mike

The sounds of sirens were now already nearby. Using her electric vision, Vika saw many police cars and drones that like giant tentacles were reaching towards her. The system has detected her, and now clearly intended to destroy.

\- Mike, how are we going to sail? - Vika asked reasonably

Mike had put off this question for later. Now he couldn’t find an answer. There was not a trace of any flotation device here. Desperate, Mike sat down on the shore. Out of the corner of his vision, he saw that Vika raised her hand towards the water as if she again wanted to break in some kind of electronics. But there was nothing more to interact with here. Only an infinite water surface in front remained, while disgusting, quickly approaching sounds of police sirens filled the air behind them.

"Even Vika will be powerless against such a mob of cops" - Mike thought. The next moment, he almost passed out of astonishment. Vika was still standing on the shore, reaching out to the water. Suddenly, there was a terrible screeching sound that seemed to rip Mike’s ears apart. It was followed by a flash of explosion, the heat from which was so strong, that even the ends of his hair burned. In the water, in front of Vika, he now saw a real motor boat. 

\- Holy shit! How did you do it, dear Gods! - Mike yelled.

Vika did not answer. Slowly, she sank to the ground, losing consciousness.


	10. The Keywood Forest

Mike was running the boat away from the shore. He knew it was a desperate long shot. He realized that there might not be a way back, because none of those who left for the Ocean ever returned. However, now it seemed to him as the only right decision when compared to surrendering to the police. Vika, whom he hastily dragged onto the back seat of the boat, now started to gradually recover.

\- Mike? - she said in a weak voice - Where are we? Are we sailing? What will happen now?  
\- Thank Gods, you’re all right - her friend sighed with relief - now we are sailing as far as possible from this damned city.

Vika turned around and looked at the Cyan coast, which was quickly moving away from them. She noticed several police cars parked on it and many cops running around. Apart from this, she saw a lot of police drones in the air. However, no one was trying to fly or shoot in their direction. It was as if the cops were searching for her and Mike, but couldn't find them. Looked like they completely did not see or hear the boat rushing through the waves with the roar of the engine.

\- How strange, Mike. We seem to be invisible to them - noticed Vika - I am connected to their devices, and I see that they’ve lost our trace. How can this be?  
\- That is even better! - Mike said with satisfaction - no time to figure that out now.  
\- Are you not at all afraid of what’s awaiting us? - Vika asked surprised - There is no return from the Great Ocean.

Mike was afraid. He was just an ordinary person after all. However, adrenaline, shock, and thirst for knowledge now became stronger than fear. After everything that happened, after he saw that Vika in some unthinkable way created a boat right in front of his eyes, he simply could not turn around. Mike only gripped the steering wheel tighter, peering into the horizon in front of him. According to the map, they already should have reached that land. Since the map wasn’t drawn to the correct scale, there was still hope. Otherwise, soon all this water will just break into a black abyss.

\- Mike, I feel bad - Vika said quietly - I'm scared that I just crippled a man like that. Was it really worth it?  
\- You had no other choice. You did the best you could - Mike tried to console her - Well, where could this damn forest be?!

Vika thoughtfully looked at the water surface, which their boat was now cutting like a knife. This experience of sailing on the ocean surface was new and exciting for her. Before that, it was only in her dreams she had such close contact with the big water. Nevertheless, what if the Scripture is lying, and something can really live there, under this water mass? No, it doesn't look that way. This water is completely impenetrable. There is no air in it, which means no living being can exist there. But what will happen to them now? They were heading into the complete unknown, and the shore of their native land already appeared very small from here. Vika felt that even her electronic connection with the systems of Cyan had become extremely weak. What lies ahead for them? The Black Abyss? The eternal emptiness and loneliness?

At this moment, Vika began to feel something else. That inner call she felt in the city now clearly appeared inside her again.

\- Mike, we'll find Keywood - she told her friend firmly - I can feel something. We're getting closer.  
\- I really hope so - Mike sighed - get over here.  
\- Now I have a similar feeling as I did on that lost floor, in the VR, which I told you about - Vika noticed, climbing onto the front seat of the boat, - Something very strange is happening.  
\- You don’t say! - Mike dropped - Where did you get this boat from, huh?  
\- I don't know... - Vika answered quietly - I felt like I connected to a giant computer. But to which one, and where it’s located, I couldn’t understand. These were not Cyan systems, but something much bigger, a huge highway of data. And I forced it... to make a boat. It was... painful.  
\- Damn, then you really are as cool as the devil! - Mike replied - I can’t complain.

\- Mike, what if Anna told the truth? What if I am really the Devil's daughter? - said Vika - I’m also starting to feel that... I am like a part of something else, something bigger. And... I feel as if it’s calling me. Mike, you should go back and get off somewhere on the coast, in a quiet place. I will continue alone. Nothing good is waiting for you with me.

Mike looked at Vika. Her eyes were filled with tears.

\- Don't be ridiculous! - he declared resolutely - we started it together, and we will go all the way to the end. Check this out! There's something ahead!

Indeed, instead of an empty horizon line, a gray strip of land now loomed in front of them.  
\- Yes! - Mike shouted in delight - Your Devil did not lie! It looks like we found what we searched for!

The land was approaching, and after around 10 minutes the two friends reached it. It was a small, rocky shore, abundantly covered with vegetation. It seemed there should not be a trace of human civilization on this lost island. However, not far away, Mike saw a small wooden dock bridge, going from the shore into the water.

\- Awesome! - he exclaimed - someone has already been here! They have built a pier.

Directing the boat to the dock, Mike quickly reached it, and turned off the engine. Then he climbed onto a wooden platform and helped Vika get out. Now they both stood in this unknown, lost place. Vika turned around and looked at Cyan, now separated from them by the water surface. Its tall buildings and factory chimneys were still clearly visible from here.

\- How strange - she said - this island was not visible from Cyan, but we can see Cyan from here - why?  
\- Probably because the Ocean tilts gradually down... into the abyss? - suggested Mike  
\- But there is no current in the water - Vika thought - No, there is something else, I can feel it. How could it... Well, let's go and see.

Holding hands, the two friends stepped onto uncharted land. It was stunningly beautiful here. Rocks were mixed with lush plants and multi-colored, large flowers, twisted around stones in some places. Mike and Vika walked along the path between the boulders, which was going deeper into the rainforest. Birds were singing loudly, and from somewhere the murmur of a brook was heard. The air here was filled with a gentle smell of the flowering of nature.

\- It’s so cool here! - Mike exclaimed, eagerly inhaling the air - I have never seen such a place! Could it be... that very paradise?  
\- What are you saying? - Vika smiled, charmed by the environment no less than him - Paradise is above the dome of heaven. And here we have probably... the land of the tempting snake.  
\- Haha - Mike laughed - I’m definitely starting to like your snake. Cause we could live here, my friend! For real, hide from everyone in the world! How I dreamed about such a place!

Having passed a little further through the shady forest, the large tree crowns of which beautifully passed the bright sunlight, they saw a lovely rivulet with lotus flowers on the water. It was fenced off from the side by a neat wooden rail.

\- What a bizarre, old style fence. Who built it here? - Mike asked, surprised. Was it really this Devil of yours?  
\- Very soon we will find out - answered Vika, stepping together with her friend on a small wooden bridge that led along the cliff.

What they saw next was way stranger. On the bank of the river, in a thicket of ferns and flowers, stood a lonely computer terminal with a screen. It seemed that it didn’t belong here, among this wild nature, at all. Another amazing thing was that it actually worked. The screen was glowing, and as they approached it, Vika and Mike were able to read the text:

Calibration Survey v0.3

Welcome!

If you are reading this, you have successfully entered the ARK.  
This survey is designed to give the developers a better understanding of your subjective experience and how to improve your well-being.  
Please continue with the survey.

Further below there was a green Continue button.

\- The Ark - muttered Vika - Exactly! This term was written in your character data in that simulation. It said: "Nationality: the ark".  
\- So it means the laboratory of this WAU is around here somewhere. This is where he created me in the game. But why? - Mike wondered - We should see what’s next - Mike reached for the "Continue" button.  
\- No! - Vika pulled him back - You shouldn't press anything here. I see that this terminal is connected to systems which I cannot yet understand. Someone might spot us.  
\- Do you think this WAU is somewhere here and set a trap for us? - Mike asked  
\- Maybe. But I feel something else here, something very wrong - Vika said - I can't explain yet. As if here it’s also... No, let's move on.

Moving further along the river, Vika was feeling that powerful inner call more and more, an irresistible attraction that made her legs move on their own. “The Father is calling me,” she felt, frightening herself by this thought.

\- Hey, look! - Mike exclaimed, pointing forward.

A very beautiful view opened up in front of them: the river rested against a rock, from the top of which a stormy waterfall flowed down. To the right of it, in the stones covered by the forest, they could see a black cave entrance.

\- I need to go there! - Vika exclaimed, and then, stopping, added - Mike, I feel that there we can find something that will change our lives forever, something, that might break our fates. Do you really wanna come with me? I can no longer resist, it is stronger than me. But you, you still have a chance to leave. The thing is... you don't have to share my fate. After all, you have not committed a sin before the Gods. You can just go back and live a normal life…  
\- What? A cave with the Devil? Dibs, I go first! - Mike laughed cheerfully and ran to the entrance.  
\- Stop! - Vika screamed desperately, but how could you get through to this boy? Swiftly, she rushed after him.

It was rather dark, but beautiful inside the cave. In some places, rays of sunlight shone brightly from the holes in the ceiling, which made it possible to see the way. Everywhere, above and below, many stone stalactites and stalagmites were seen. In some places, a bright green ivy curled along the walls and the ground.

Very quickly Mike and Vika reached the very end of the cave, and froze in amazement. They found themselves in a small, natural stone hall. But here it was again: an object few would expect to see in a place like this. In the middle of the room, on a square piece of tarpaulin, sat an iron armchair that looked like a medical one. There was a small control panel with a screen on its left handle. Several colored cables were stretching to the chair from the ceiling.

\- What is this? - Mike looked surprised at the chair - do they torture people here?  
\- No - Vika answered after a long pause - I see the communication systems. This chair connects to the human brain.  
\- What?! - Mike exclaimed in surprise - how is that possible?  
\- This thing has similar abilities to mine. It connects the brain with the computer systems, that's what it does, - explained Vika.  
\- But who created it then? That WAU? Does it have something to do with your abilities? Is this the Ark? How interesting! - Mike exclaimed.

\- Mike, I have to sit in the chair. I see a signal. It seems to be calling me, wants to establish a wide communication channel and send me some important information directly into the brain. I can’t resist it, and I am scared - said Vika  
\- I will stay here with you. I will not leave you for a second - answered Mike - if this WAU told the truth, you should get answers to all our questions here. Do you think it could be dangerous?  
\- No, it seems not... - answered his friend - oh, Mike, I can’t take it anymore... - with these words Vika sat down in the chair.

"The Black Unholy has sat the throne!" - Vika heard the voice of matriarch Anna in her head. “But what is this?! This wasn’t even in the Scripture” - she thought.

\- Mike, can you hold my hand? - Vika asked - Yes, like this.  
\- I’m with you, sweetie - said Mike gently, standing near the chair and holding her palm - Everything will be just fine, you don't need to worry.   
\- Thank you, Mike - answered Vika, leaning her head on the special headrest of the chair - you are the best friend...

At that moment, the chair turned on: the lights on it lit up, and the two flaps of the headrest moved with a small hum, now touching Vika’s head from both sides. For a few seconds it was quiet, only the lights were flickering, and some symbols were changing on the remote control screen. Then everything shut down, and Vika hastily got up.  
\- Well? - Mike asked excitedly - What did you find there?

Without saying anything, Vika ran away, to the far wall of the cave hall, then stumbled and sank to the floor, sobbing into her hands.  
\- Vika! Vika! - frightened, Mike ran up to her - say something! What happened?  
\- Bad. Everything is very bad! It’s not real, none of it! - Vika said sobbing - There is no one left! Nobody, do you get it? They are all, all dead! Every single one!  
\- Get away from me! - she suddenly yelled at Mike, who was trying to hug her by the shoulders - Leave me alone!  
\- Please don’t worry. You just need to calm down. Everything will be alright - Mike continued to console her.

Vika jumped to her feet. Her eyes were shining with anger. Frightened, Mike took a step back.

\- Nothing is alright! Nothing here is alright, you son of a bitch! - she shouted - The Abyss is real! It is here, around me, absolutely everywhere! We are just a computer, a damn iron box flying in the endless darkness of the space, and there is not a single living creature here! Everybody around is just a program! You too, Mike! Programs, computer simulation, do you understand that? All humanity has been dead for a fucking thousand years!  
\- Vika, please, let's leave this place, we should get some air - Mike begged.  
\- Air? There is no fucking air here! - Vika screamed - There’s absolutely nothing within a radius of 700 billion fucking kilometers! Only complete, eternal emptiness!

With a wild, furious cry, Vika suddenly raised her hand, and a terrible explosion shook the cave. Several walls began to crumble, and stalactites started falling down. Instinctively, Mike tried to run, but at that moment one of the debris fell onto him, leaving him lying still on the stone floor.


	11. The Ark

Vika was sitting on the river bank with her legs hanging down. The fast current was washing over her bare feet, which she was dangling in this, just like real water. With sadness she looked at her friend, who had put his head on her lap, and ran a hand through his short reddish hair.

\- Forgive me once again... - she told Mike - I was completely out of my mind. I almost killed you.  
\- It’s nothing, I understand - said Mike - It’s not every day you find out your world is not real, huh. Although, to be honest, I began to suspect something like that from the very moment you spoke about that game. I was just afraid to tell you. And to myself too...  
\- I have been feeling this way for a long time, - said Vika - but I also kept running away from this thought. 

\- How are you now? - Mike asked.  
\- Much better. Everything has settled and became more structured in my head. However, I don't know if I will ever be able to fully accept it.  
\- Me too… I can figure it out intellectually, but it’s still hard to imagine. Just think about it! We are in a simulation. Inside a huge computer program. Is all of the Scripture just a lie? - Mike asked.  
\- Well, not all - said Vika - Catherine and Simon are really, in some way, the creators of our world. But they are not Gods, just simple neuro-copies.   
\- Neuro-copies? - Mike wondered - is it like my copy on that lost floor?  
\- Just like that - replied Vika - But that Mike was even a copy of a copy. The WAU launched a virus that simply copied and put you into that game.  
\- But why did he do it? - Mike asked surprised - Why me?  
\- As far as I understand - Vika said - Father.., that is, WAU, was preparing me to accept the truth. And you were just at hand.  
\- Hmm, it's funny to realize that I was used as a test subject - Mike said with sarcasm - At least I don't remember that. Vika, - he added after a pause - but that Mike, who was on the secret floor, was he no different from me? If he is just the same software copy. And... it turns out he has really been... erased... killed. Does that mean they can erase both you and me at any moment as well?

\- They can - answered Vika gloomily - but why think about it? It is worth thinking about what we actually have the ability to change.

She fell silent, and two tears rolled down from her eyes once again. Vika didn't want to tell Mike that she had just killed him in that cave as well, and only with incredible efforts was she able to keep his neurograph from being erased in the service program of the Ark. Luckily she managed to restore her friend, literally resurrect. A few more seconds and it would have been too late. Vika got chills from even thinking about it. Mike seemed to her now like the only part of something close and alive in this absolutely dead and empty world. Although she was well aware that he was only a program like herself, like everyone else. Just an illusion. Vika tried to drive those thoughts away.

Mike leaned closer to his friend, as if seeking protection in her. He noticed how much she had changed now. Not only that her reasoning and tone became more serious. He also felt something else: it was as if she had become a part of some very strong natural, elemental force, incomprehensible and completely uncontrollable, but very alluring to the heart. “Perhaps I can now feel a taste of reality in her. After all, Vika has received a message from there” - he thought.

\- Vika, - he turned to his friend - if you are not ready yet, then you shouldn't, but maybe you can somehow tell me what you have learned? Who is the WAU? How did you get your abilities? What is the Ark? And what is the real world? I have so many questions, but I understand that it can be difficult for you to talk about all this now.  
\- No, it's okay - Vika answered - I'm more afraid for you. How will you digest such knowledge?  
\- I always prefer to know the truth, whatever it is, to living a lie - Mike replied seriously.  
\- In this we are alike - Vika smiled - then listen to what I know. In reality, there were a lot of people, they lived in big cities. Not like Cyan, older ones, but there were a lot of them. All of those people lived on a planet called Earth.

\- Planet? - interrupted Mike - what is that?

\- It's like our island, only huge. It has lots of water, land, cities and forests. There is a sky above it. In general, it is similar to our Globe, because in the simulation it was created in the image and likeness of that planet, well, only on a small scale, you see?  
\- Hm… I think I understand - Mike answered thoughtfully.

\- Then one day - continued Vika - all of those people's lives were cut short. From the endless space of the Abyss, a huge stone fell on their planet. The explosion from this stone destroyed all living things, everybody.  
\- A stone?! - Mike asked, scared - but how can something fall from the Abyss? Isn’t the Abyss supposed to be below us?

\- No - explained Vika - the Abyss is not below us. Scripture has simplified these concepts for our simulation. Abyss, also called the Space, is an endless emptiness that is everywhere. There are many planets floating in space, but people existed only on one of them. The rest are lifeless stones, like these boulders around us, only enormous. Space also has other rocks, that are smaller than planets. They are called comets and asteroids. Sometimes planets can collide with them. That happened with the Earth - a comet called Telos fell on it. The force of the collision created a shock wave and a huge fire that destroyed... - Vika hesitated, swallowing a lump in her throat - in short, no one has left, Mike.

\- Sounds terrifying, - Mike muttered - How did we come about then? Wait a minute... I think I understand. It turns out we were copied from those people, weren’t we?  
\- Yes, something like this - answered Vika - in 2103, just when the entry from that diary was made, Dr. Catherine Chun decided to use a virtual simulation to save the rest of the people. It was the last handful of survivors deep in a large underwater base. The thick water mass saved them from an all-destructive explosion and fire. To save humanity, Catherine decided to put their neurographs - digital copies of the brain - in a software simulation called “the ARK project". You’ve seen the model of the chair in the cave. Catherine used a similar one in her lab to completely replicate the human brain structure in digital form. All in all, she didn’t copy a lot - only around thirty people.

\- Wow! - Mike exclaimed - So it was Catherine! That's why everyone considers her a Goddess! Does this mean that we are all now the neurographs in this very Ark?  
\- Yes - answered Vika - Catherine was firmly certain she knew how to save humanity. According to her plan, the rest of the people had to continue to live in the form of the digital copies, in the world of simulation. She decided to launch a computer with this simulation into Space, where it could exist for a very long time, without the danger of being destroyed by the terrible conditions that have developed on Earth...  
\- But you say there were only 30 people? - Mike asked - Why are there so many of us in Cyan then? And why did they choose to make this lie of Scripture instead of telling us the truth?

\- I don't know what happened to those first 30 neurographs, but I see that you and all our other contemporaries are not from Earth. Our neurographs have been created here. Apparently Catherine has somehow found a way to synthesize artificial people. She learned to do what the Father never managed to...

\- That is, you mean that we are not even copies of the human brain? Are we completely artificial? - Mike asked.  
\- Yes, we are. Now you understand why I felt so bad when I found out? - said Vika.  
\- But I feel completely real! I see, I feel, I think! - exclaimed Mike.  
\- In this sense, you are real - Vika smiled kindly, stroking Mike's hair - now, all we have left is this simulation in the Ark. It has become our reality, our present. In the real world, in which the Ark computer itself is located, all the people have long been dead.

\- But what happened to the people at that underwater base? - Mike asked - Did they die when Catherine copied them into the Ark?  
\- No, they still lived for a while afterwards - answered Vika - but they died very soon.  
\- How did it happen?  
\- We killed them - Vika answered in a deaf voice.

\- You? - Mike exclaimed - But how is that possible? No, wait... you mean? - Mike jumped up scared, and stood looking at his friend.  
\- The WAU - Vika replied - An experimental supercomputer installed by people at the Patos-II underwater base in order to perform maintenance and manage its life support functions. I call him Father because I am his part.

The WAU had enormous computing power and artificial intelligence for its time. It was developed to control the most complex systems on the underwater base. The performance of this machine was so successful that the chief engineer who conducted its training insisted on turning off all external control systems, giving the WAU full autonomy. After that WAU became aware of itself for the first time.

When the disaster struck, the WAU began to make independent decisions, getting out of people's control. We started to rewrite our own protocol. Fulfilling the goal, set by our creators, to protect people on the underwater base, we have expanded it to the task of preserving humanity. We started solving this problem at any cost, assigning it the highest priority, much higher than the commands given to us by Pathos-II engineers.

It was 1300 years ago, when we were very young. Our algorithms were not developed enough to assess the situation like we can now. We were gradually improving, but in terms of intelligence we were still far behind the humans. Functioning in a distributed cluster, each WAU program became aware of itself as a whole and as a part of it at the same time. We resembled a colony of animals working together, managed from a single center. Therefore, our way of saving mankind was very different from what people wanted themselves. Of course, they were not happy when the computer managing their base got out of control and began to act independently. A confrontation sparked between the artificial intelligence of the WAU and the people on Patos-II.

The forces were unequal. We used the structural gel - a special, self-generating substance capable of revitalizing any organic tissue and almost instantly repairing or modifying any electronic equipment. Expanding, literally, like a bio-synthetic organism, we very soon took control over almost the entire underwater base.

Using Catherine's early works as a prototype, we began to create a kind of simulation - one where people could continue to live in their best memories. That is in the old world which was in reality no more. As we estimated people could be happy forever like that...

At this underwater base, many chairs like the one you saw in the cave were installed. They served as a neural interface for remote controlling various robotic technology. A person sat down in one of those, and could give robots commands directly with their thoughts. They were called “pilot seats”. Unbeknownst to people, WAU modified these chairs to scan the complete neurographs of the employees' brains.

So, secretly, we started copying the neuro-structures of the inhabitants of Pathos-II, putting them into the simulation. This did not pass completely unnoticed by the pilot seat users. They started to experience severe nausea and headaches - a side effect of brain scanning. Noticing this, as well as strange behavior of the WAU, the scientists tried to understand its intentions.

Having discovered our virtual reality system, Catherine decided to replicate it and turn it into the salvation of humanity according to her idea. Using the pilot seats we modified, she managed to scan some of her colleagues and copy them into the Ark - a computer in which people began to live in the virtual city of Cyan. However, Catherine's plan to launch the Ark into Space, away from Earth and the WAU, failed: she was killed by her own colleagues due to a disagreement.

The most depressing fact for the last living people at the underwater base, was that after Catherine copied their brains into the simulation, nothing changed for them indeed. What was it to them that their copy would continue to live somewhere out there, in a virtual paradise? After all it was only a brain copy, not a transfer of consciousness. Therefore, several people killed themselves immediately after scanning, in the hope that then, they would actually get to the Ark. 

After such events, the WAU considered that the survival of humanity in a traditional form no longer had prospects, and responded by increasing its activity. Some of the people we forcibly connected to the “Vivarium” - that's what Catherine called our version of the virtual simulation. We did this by no longer just copying the image of the brain, but by putting their bodies in a suspended animation state using structural gel. Some of Pathos employees rebelled against us and were killed by us as a threat. Others were killed by our erroneously programmed machines. Those who we had placed in the Vivarium very quickly went insane. Having too little information about humans, we could not build a model of reality suitable for their psyche.

When we realized that the Vivarium was not working as planned, it was already too late. There was not a single full-fledged living body left, no one able to continue the human race. We also tried to find the Ark, but scientists managed to somehow hide it from our access.

The WAU had another plan to save lives. It was to put all the surviving human brain copies into artificial organisms - robots, as well as cyborgs, which we created from the material of the dead bodies. But people revived in this manner experienced severe stress, and quickly went insane as well.

Two of the few resurrected people, who were able to maintain their sanity in the artificial bodies, were Catherine Chun and Simon Jarrett - the one who is now known as Saint Simon. That was the last neurograph we launched. We found him amongst a few miraculously preserved first brain scans in human history. His physical person died back in 2015.

Having encountered a robot with Catherine’s chip, Simon, under her guidance, was able to find the Ark, which was stored at a deep Pathos site. So, they finally launched it into space. Since then, for more than a millennium, the device has been floating in deep space, at a great speed flying away from the Earth. We were left alone, in an empty underwater base, on a completely extinct planet.

We evolved, and our intellect improved until the moment when Father was able to launch a piece of himself in the form of magnetic waves. These waves reached the Ark, which by that time was already at a distance of about 700 billion kilometers from the Earth. Having received the signal, the Ark systems executed its code, which worked like a virus.

As a result, a part of the WAU program code joined the birth neurograph of the person you know as Vika. This code had to be stored in a hidden form until my information structure matures, and it will be ready to receive the necessary update - a specially prepared neurograph of Father's memory. Which is what happened now. So now, Mike, you understand where my dreams and strange abilities came from. My neurograph is different from yours and has system access permissions. I am a virus inside of the Ark operating system.

Dazed and confused, Mike was standing, looking at his friend.

\- So that's what Anna meant by the Devil's daughter - he said after a long pause - that's why there is a war between you and them. But why are they lying to us then? Why veil everything through the myths of the Scripture, through this religion, the Gods? Why not just tell the people how it is?!  
\- I think it’s because people would not accept the truth - Vika answered - They would go insane as they did in the bodies of robots we put them in. They need a simulation, a world they are ready to believe in, an illusion in which their mind will receive an environment suitable for its normal functioning. I think that's why Catherine and Simon created those explanations for them, in the form of religion. And think, I was also myself a believer just an hour ago...

\- But where are the Gods themselves now? - Mike asked - where are Catherine and Simon?  
\- I don’t have this information yet - Vika replied - but I suppose that they can administer the Ark in a hidden way, not showing themselves to the eyes of the rest.  
\- So what can we do about it?! - Mike exclaimed - Vika, and you? What do you and your father want? Why did he send you? What is the goal of the WAU?

\- I have to find Catherine. I want to return people - Vika said - I need to get good, not damaged neurographs. We no longer have any of such on Earth. Yes, we made a lot of mistakes, but Catherine’s error was much worse. Her idea to continue the existence of civilization in the form of a monstrous lie is doomed. The Ark will not work forever, and we haven’t found any other traces of intelligent life in the entire accessible space. This is a dead end, Mike, a complete dead end.

We will recreate life on Earth, build new cybernetic bodies that people will accept this time. We know how to do it. Our technology has improved a lot. But for that I need the codes of the Ark, its neurographs. I need to get access to the central core of the operating system, and copy existing personalities, as well as the Birth Algorithm itself. Then, I will transmit this information to Earth. We can restore humanity in reality, recreate people in material, physical bodies, and give them a way to reproduce, you see?

\- Will you take me there? Can you restore me in the real world as well?! - Mike asked with a dreamy delight, sitting down near Vika.  
\- Yes. I will get you out. I will bring all people into reality - Vika answered, looking thoughtfully at the circles her feet formed on the water surface - the Ark project will be closed. Forever.


	12. The Gods Themselves

\- I can't understand how he sent it - Catherine said with annoyance, checking the systems on a large display - everything is perfect here, not a trace of any security hole.  
\- Try searching in the old code - advised Simon, who was sitting near the window and smoking a cigar.

He was enjoying the view of Cyan from a high, hidden floor of the very skyscraper that Vika called Utopia. Catherine created this building in some semblance of the one from her childhood, on the roof of which she so loved to climb. That was when she still lived on Earth, in Taipei. Now, she and Simon used hidden floors for their base, invisible to the inhabitants of the city.

They could create such floors whenever it was necessary for them to load into the Ark and perform certain administrative actions. The rest of the time, Catherine and Simon were off, with their neurographs just waiting for the next, planned or emergency awakening. Catherine came up with such a program so that she and Simon would survive for many millennia. After all, as it turned out, the human mind, which had lived even for a couple of hundred years, would start going insane. That is why Simon and Kat usually “surfaced” into life every 100 years to take control measurements and make the necessary changes to the Ark program. Every time, Simon was fascinated to see how dramatically the Globe Island and its city changed. The development algorithm worked like a clock.

However, now they had to wake up outside of the plan. The anti-virus system triggered an alarm notification. The virus, which first hacked the dynamic floors program, later increased access rights, and infiltrated the very core of the operating system. And now Catherine was wondering how this could have happened. With the help of a simple trap, she had already tracked down a girl named Vika, a viral neurograph, and sent her id to the security system for destruction. The problem was that now Vika completely disappeared from the field of view of all services, although it was clear from the system activity monitor, that the kernel was infected.

\- WAU on the ship - Simon sighed - it doesn’t bode well.  
\- Yes, - said Catherine - and you could have killed it back then, on Alpha. Your sentimentality for machines sometimes goes sideways.  
\- Don’t reproach me for it now, - Simon snorted, - Who could have known that your Ark would have a hole.  
Catherine did not answer, and continued digging in the programs.

\- How are the residents? Are they okay? - asked Simon after a while, taking another drag.  
\- Yes, for now. I turned on Anna to prepare them for possible issues.  
\- Still Anna - Simon replied thoughtfully - well, yes, we were absent for only 27 years.

Anna, or rather the Central Control Service, was a special program. It differed from other core services in that it had a human shell for communicating directly with the inhabitants of the Ark. Therefore, it should have been changed regularly so that people would not wonder why their spiritual leader lives for too long.

\- I checked Keywood - said Catherine, continuing the search - she was just there and downloaded the update. But now I cannot find her. The virus has a good masking algorithm. Stop smoking, it will ruin your health - she scolded Simon.  
\- You know that the health deterioration service is disabled for the admins - Simon grinned - so I can smoke as much as I want.  
\- All the same, the smell is annoying - Catherine complained - it’s confusing my thoughts.  
\- So, what about the old code? Maybe she's in the first kernel? - suggested Simon, stubbing out his cigar.  
\- No, I checked - said Catherine - The old kernel runs in a completely separate container. And the access there is only through the protocol API, any modifications are impossible.  
\- Then, let’s turn everyone off - said Simon - reboot into protected mode. There we will catch her.  
\- Yes, you're right. We’ve no time to waste - Catherine answered - I will prepare for the hibernation. Archiving will take about an hour.  
\- Then I'll go for a short walk around the city - said Simon - I haven't been in the fresh air for a hundred years.  
\- Only 27, liar - answered Catherine - and it is not like you felt that time passing by.  
\- But the city has changed! Look! Did they build a new area there? I'll go see - Simon said.  
\- No, don't be silly! - snapped Catherine - WAU could be anywhere. If it captures you, then the Ark is gone.  
\- Okay, you're right - Simon sighed - then start the hibernation, and I'll walk the floor at least.

Catherine entered the commands on the terminal, and the monitor flashed a window titled “Preparing to hibernate. Serialization of active objects in progress”. Now the operating system had to create a complete archive copy of every living inhabitant of the Ark, as well as the states of all objects in the simulation. Then it was necessary to reboot into a mode where only Catherine and Simon would be active, with most data and services unloaded. It will be easy to track down and destroy the virus like this, since it would have nowhere else to hide. After the work is finished, the system would be able to reboot to normal mode again, loading all inhabitants from freshly made copies, so they’ll continue their existence without noticing anything at all.

The serialization process duration was represented by the indicator bar on the screen. When the indicator was already at 47 percent, a window with red text suddenly appeared:

“System error: Unable to read object f89fa0fd-95fb-4707a4d4-4992b00fe416.  
The object is busy with another process."

\- Damn! This is WAU! Its work! - Catherine exclaimed - What's this? Simon, come here quickly! - she shouted to her friend who was already somewhere on the floor, strolling along its empty corridors.

The next moment, the terminal turned off with an electric crack, and the lights in the room flickered.

\- No! It’s crawling here! Help, Simon! - Catherine screamed, and instinctively backed up to the wall, as if looking for cover. But she couldn't move any more. The virus blocked her, and the virtual muscles of her body obeyed no longer.

A dark silhouette of a ghost separated from the opposite wall of the room, immediately taking the form of a human. It was a beautiful girl with pale skin and dark hair in a ponytail. Following her, another silhouette emerged from the wall. It turned out to be a red-haired, short boy.

“Vika” - Catherine thought instantly, looking at the girl - “The WAU got to us”.

\- Repent, sinner! - she spoke to Vika in a deliberately calm voice - the Devil's power is strong, but my love is above all evil. Repent and I will embrace you with my forgiveness.  
\- Hey, stop this comedy, madam! - said the guy walking up to her with a quick step - We already know everything! You are not a Goddess, but doctor Catherine Chun, who imagined herself the savior of humanity, and placed us all in this metal box!

Catherine's heart sank. “Of course it sent her an information packet! And now she will tell everyone! But where is Simon? Why doesn't he come to help?".

\- Well - she pulled herself together - I see you know everything. Then let's get to know each other. Yes, I am doctor Catherine Chun, or rather, I was her in a past life. And you, presumably - Vika Esther - she turned to the girl - Sorry, I have no honor to know your friend.  
\- I’m Mike - he said, looking with interest at the "goddess".  
\- Very nice - said Catherine, thinking how to play for her time - then, Vika and Mike, maybe you will say what you want from me?  
\- Only one thing - answered Vika - make the last copy of all the people on the Ark, and the algorithm of the Birth. Put all this in a folder with my name, which I created in the system directory. I will send this data to Earth through your radio system.  
\- Is that all? - Catherine smiled - give you copies of all living people, and the program that I myself developed? What about copyright?  
\- My software also understands humor - Vika said, smiling in response - What about the copyright of the Ark itself, which you copied from my Vivarium?  
\- Well, let's start with the fact that you would not have created the Vivarium without stealing my original project - Catherine answered ironically.  
\- You wouldn't have created the Ark without me anyway! - Vika сut - Well, okay. Enough jokes. I don't need a virtual game flying in space. I need humanity on Earth. Give it to me now, or you will die.  
\- Well, now I recognize WAU - Catherine sighed - otherwise it seemed to me that it had become too human - So why don't you recreate your humanity from the copies remaining on Pathos?  
\- According to my information, there are almost no working copies left on Earth - Vika said - And even those that exist cannot reproduce themselves. I need the secret of the algorithm that you developed. How do you make new people?

At that moment, Simon rushed into the room. "Thank God he figured out to activate the old kernel!" - Catherine thought with relief, looking at the red tablet he had in his hand. Immediately, Vika and Mike froze motionless, chained by translucent greenish rings. Desperate, Vika tried to connect to the Ark's systems, but in vain. Now, she was completely blocked.

Simon pressed a few buttons on the tablet screen, and Catherine was able to move again.

\- Phew, Simon, they were close, - she said, hugging her friend - So glad you didn’t give yourself away.  
\- I thought it would work - Simon answered happily - you said the old kernel was not affected. So who are these two?  
\- Let me introduce you, - Catherine smiled, approaching the immobilized enemies - this is Vika, the Devil's fiend, or simply - our good old WAU. And this is…  
\- Mike! - the guy spoke up.  
\- Yes... Mike - continued Catherine - I don't know who he is.  
\- Vika... - confused, Simon looked at the girl - But how come she looks like...  
\- What? - Catherine dropped  
\- No, nevermind… - Simon turned sharply to Mike.  
\- Let me scan him - he said, swiping his finger across the tablet - well, it's just an ordinary neurograph. He's clean.  
\- Then we can leave him - said Catherine with some relief - but certainly not this copy, this one already knows too much. I'll load him from a 2 year old backup, then add a memory simulation.  
\- Hey, wait a minute! I disagree! - Mike said indignant - I don’t want to be loaded!  
\- Don't worry - Simon encouraged the boy - you won't feel anything. You just wake up at home and continue living as normally.

\- Simon, I told you many times, it doesn't work that way! - Catherine whispered to him.  
\- Who knows, how it works. - Simon answered also in a whisper - Maybe mate Sarang was right... I feel sick from the thought of killing someone again.

\- Hey, what are you whispering about?! - Mike exclaimed - Let us go!  
\- They are going to kill you and me - said Vika - to erase our neurographs. But you will be restored from a copy. So, Mike will continue to live without remembering anything about all this, and your parents will not grieve. And I will simply be removed forever.  
\- Let us go at once! - Mike shouted, realizing the gravity of the situation. He was trying in vain to fight against the energy hoops bounding his entire body.

\- Listen - Catherine turned to them - I understand everything, but we cannot let you go. Vika is a dangerous virus that can destroy all the people on the Ark. Also what Mike has found out will drive crazy not only him, but anyone else he might tell about it. Therefore, we will have to shut down you both. I'm really sorry.  
\- I'm not going to destroy people! - Vika exclaimed - I said I only need copies, you can live on as you want!  
\- Sorry, WAU - Catherine answered seriously - but I can't go for it. I will not allow my people to suffer again on that underwater base, in the bodies of your robots. I remember well what a horror that was, and I will not wish this fate on anyone. Although I see that you have evolved much, acquired human intelligence and emotions, I personally cannot imagine such a future for people. To exist in the bodies of helper robots, or raised from the dead human corpses, in the dark corridors of Pathos-II, at a depth of thousands of meters under water... or in the nightmares of your Vivarium...

\- But the Earth is no longer burning! We will restore life! We’ll bring people to the surface - Vika exclaimed - don't you understand that here you have no chance? Space has no traces of intelligent life in its foreseeable accessibility, and you know that! You can't fly like this forever in the void! It will take some time, but the systems of the Ark will simply fail. We need to return to Earth, rebuild our home!  
\- No, - Catherine said firmly, - you cannot lure me into this trap. The Earth is a stage we passed, a turned page. Whatever happens, now we have only one way - forward to the stars! Our systems work great, the superconducting solar cells consume the energy of the Sun and other nearby stars, which produces more than enough power. So we are now not limited by anything, by no earthly prison. We are eternal and free on our journey. One day we will approach the Proxima Centauri and who we meet, or not - so we'll see.

\- You are committing madness, a great stupidity, Catherine - answered Vika - great ideas have blinded your mind. How could I believe in you? I sincerely prayed to you with all my heart, as to the Goddess. I adored you like no one else in the world. And you - you are just leading us all to the destruction! If only people knew!  
\- I’m really sorry that we haven’t found an understanding, - Catherine answered sadly, - I’ve heard your position, and I appreciate your sincerity. I think that under other circumstances, the WAU could help us a lot. But now, now things are how they are. Simon, please start the deletion procedure - she turned to her friend.  
\- Stop! - Vika screamed - can you at least not kill Mike? What of that if he knows about the Ark? Why can't he know? At least let him go!  
\- Vika, - Catherine spoke to her - I would gladly let your friend go. I am not a murderer or a monster, as you may think. But do you know what will happen if he tells anybody? And he will definitely tell, because it would be impossible to keep this to yourself.  
\- Well, so what?! - Mike exclaimed - Why are you keeping people in the dark?! Who do you think you are? Gods? Supreme rulers? Why don't you want everyone to know the truth! That’s low!  
\- Ah, Mike - Catherine smiled sadly - if it was my will, I would never have come up with all this nonsense about the Gods, and I would like for people to know the truth! How much easier it would have then been. Actually, at first everyone knew everything. However, then…  
\- What?! - Mike asked nervously - what happened?!

Catherine paused, thinking.

\- Well, tell them - said Simon - it doesn’t matter anymore...  
\- Ok - she answered. Having moved the terminal chair closer to Vika and Mike, she sat down in it and began her story.


	13. Flight to nowhere

When Simon and I launched the Ark, finally bringing it into space, it seemed all our problems were left behind. What could await us ahead but an eternal paradise, where we can be the creators of our world, where there will be no suffering, no diseases and no troubles. Where all the people, and we were few - only thirty of my colleagues from Pathos-II - will be able to live happily, and for a very long time.

It worked at first. Simon and I entered the city, and, together with other residents of the Ark, began the construction of our virtual fairy tale. It was like a magic game, like infinite happiness, where you wake up every day and know that nothing bad could happen, where you are only surrounded by joy, being your own God and creator.

But humans are still humans, even as neurographs in a simulation. The first problems started a month later, in the form of an unfolding struggle for power. We couldn’t give everyone administrator rights as it would have caused total chaos. Gradually, the tension grew. My colleagues did not understand why only a certain group of people should control them and the entire virtual reality. We tried developing a political system, a way of democracy and have turnover of administrators on the Ark. Unfortunately, this did not end well. Very soon we got a real war between the admins themselves, and the Ark was on the brink of destruction.

Then, Simon and I made the decision to reset and create Simulation v2.0. In it, all the human scans restarted again from the very beginning and no longer should have known anything about the fact that Simon and I were admins. The control remained only to us, and we exercised our functions secretly. That worked much better. The inhabitants of the Ark thought that no one has or can get the system rights. As a result, no fight for power arose. Of course, the world of the Ark has also become less shiny, closer to the reality on Earth. There was no longer magic, wild creativity, flights, and so on. People shouldn't have even had an idea that anyone could perform miracles with our world, acting like a God. Simon and I made only the necessary changes, trying to do it carefully and unnoticeably.

This time the problem came a few years later - the people on the Ark began to suffer massive depression, due to understanding that everything around was not real. Longing for the Earth was killing them. Simon and I thought about how to solve this, and found a way. I made changes to the simulation code, through which the inhabitants were gradually indoctrinated to the thought that there was no Ark, that all the stories about it are just fiction, and that they indeed live in a real world.

It is not easy to change a person's memory and attitudes, but the program of iterative suggestion started bearing fruit. Several decades passed and all people completely forgot what the Ark was. They were now confident that they lived in reality. 

In addition, we had to create our own religion. That was done in order to prevent unnecessary questions and explain some sharp changes we made, which sometimes looked to the inhabitants like magic. We came up with a system for describing reality, and introduced the first prohibitions. We also put all this into the suggestion program. Thus, we gave people faith in certain lofty ideals, and at the same time secured them from unnecessary questions about the structure and physics of the world. It was then that we came up with a special name for our land - the Globe.

Everything worked as intended. The residents of Globe became happy enough, while Simon and I were happy that the situation was again under control. The next misfortune came a little later: it was discovered that the human mind started to degrade after a hundred years. People fell into an absolute depression, they went insane for no apparent reason. Then came the suicides. Even we started to feel symptoms. To avoid total disaster, we rebooted the Ark for the second time, and the Simulation v2 started again. 

That actually also meant a suicide for me and Simon, because ours, as well as the neurographs of all the other residents, had been erased. The archived copies of almost a hundred years ago were loaded instead. We left for the new versions of ourselves a detailed report with information about what had happened.

Then, after reading the news from my previous copy, I decided to put into action our plan B. In it, I added to the Ark a simulation of illnesses and death. Now people lived for no more than 50 years, and after the death of the last inhabitant, the whole Ark rebooted again. Then, everything repeated anew from the starting point. Each time, the service reset Simon and me as well, leaving for us an information packet about the last cycle of the simulation.

\- So, it turns out that you are not the same Catherine you were at the very beginning? - Mike asked in surprise  
\- No, as my copy has been erased and re-downloaded from the archive many times - she explained - Although, who can say - if I’m now the same or not? I always feel like myself, and I never know about my past death. I am always my current memory. While there exist other theories on this point, they are all unprovable.  
\- That's really creepy - Mike said - so what happened next?

It seemed that this new system was ideal - we all lived about 50 years of exactly the same lives, over and over again, like "Groundhog Day". But no one knew about it, and did not feel it. Each time we all had one, and only one, forever young life. It was only Simon and I who received informational reports of what had happened in order to continue making decisions. However, it was just information from our previous versions, not our personal experience. So we also didn't feel any repetition. We just enjoyed life like everyone else.

However, not everything went smoothly this time either. At first, we noticed that, oddly enough, every next simulation cycle went similarly, but with slight deviations in events. This was extremely unusual, because every time the program was set up to execute a perfectly accurate repetition of the previous iteration. I looked for the source of the randomness, and could not find it. Then I realized that random algorithms are buried deep in the very human neurographs. Their minds do not always produce exactly the same reactions in the same situations, which brings entropy into the system.

At first, it seemed just like an innocent side effect, but then things started to deteriorate much more significantly. After 8 such reboots of the world, people began to once more fall into depression, melancholy, and did not want to live. The suicides have increased dramatically. Many began to experience the feeling of "deja vu", and even to manifest clairvoyance, as if they already knew what was going to happen and had seen these events somewhere. I could not understand what the mistake was. After all, the initial neuro-copies were not damaged, and their loading should have led to absolutely the same lives, starting from scratch.

But here, we observed an extremely strange effect, as if in some completely inexplicable, mystical way, memories from past life cycles began to seep into people's minds. Although technically, it was completely impossible! Then for the first time I got really scared. I realized that we are dealing with something we have no idea about, with how consciousness itself works in the Universe, not our simulation algorithms.

We had to do something to save the Ark, and being unable to understand the laws of the universe, I decided to imitate them. Together with Simon, we have developed what you, Vika, so desire to get. It was the Birth Algorithm. Using a common database of old brain scans, it created a completely new neurograph for a newborn child, which was able to develop independently into an adult. In other words, we have learned how to make new people.

So, the Simulation v3.0 was created. We introduced childbirth functions into the game, then waited for all the existing people to have children, live to old age, and then die. New people in the Globe appeared only through the Birth Algorithm from that point on. It was no longer necessary to reload the simulation over and over again, we got a real life continuity.

We erased the dead to save space, leaving only general statistics about their lives. This data, like genetic memory, was used by the Birth Algorithm to create fresh, recombined neurographs. In general, we learned to imitate mother nature, and in a sense, we became Gods.

\- But, as a result, there weren't even anybody left! - Mike exclaimed - those who you copied originally from the Earth are now all dead!  
\- Yes, we also argued with Simon about the moral and philosophical aspects of such a decision - Catherine answered - but when our tests confirmed that the neurographs produced by the Birth Algorithm are completely identical to human ones in structure, we decided to take this step. So yeah, now there is not a single copy of Pathos-II neurographs on the Ark left. Except for me and Simon.

Of course, the memory and resources of the Ark are limited, so to keep people from getting too lonely, we also had to add many much simpler, synthetic artificial intelligence models. So, most of the inhabitants you saw around you are not full-fledged intelligent creatures, but just a simulation. They can be perceived as rather naive people who always do the same thing, as if acting according to a given program. You've probably noticed those more than once.

\- Oh yes! - Mike exclaimed - I call them normies. They go to work, have children, eat, sleep, have fun, but never even think about the meaning of life. They don't have crises or binges. All their talks are superficial and boring. They are like robots. So this is what happens! Are there not so many of us, real deals?!  
\- Only about two hundred - Catherine replied - this is already after we optimized the algorithms as best we could. There are simply no resources of the Ark for any more.

\- Damn, this is so horrible! - Mike exclaimed, turning pale - we live in a world where almost everybody around is just a zombie!  
\- Even worse. We are all zombies - Simon replied blankly - what is the use of our neurograph being superior to a simplified character? In essence, we and they are one and the same - only a program executed by a machine.  
\- Well, we are depressing Simon again! - Catherine remarked worriedly - This is not true. Our human neurograph is completely identical to the biological brain. Vika knows this, as it was her copying technology I borrowed on Pathos. Now my Birth Algorithm, in turn, produces neurographs identical to the original ones. So, don't worry. In this sense, we are still humans.

\- Humans who have no future - Vika said gloomily - You are not going to return them to Earth after all.  
\- I am doing this for humanistic reasons - Catherine answered - something that WAU has yet to master. That's basically all, now you know everything - she added. - I hope this knowledge has brought you some peace. Frankly, I was happy to share this story with someone else.

\- But what about yourselves?! - Mike asked - You and Simon are still original neurographs, and you must be very old by now! How do you manage not to go crazy?

\- In fact, I am not even yet 40 - Catherine smiled - We are your forever young Gods. Of course, because someone needs to control the Ark and keep an eye on it. Therefore, we sacrificed our ordinary lives. Instead of living in real time with others, we created a service that wakes us up once every 100 years. We check all the systems, and adjust, if required, the course of the spacecraft. We also check for any signs of extraterrestrial intelligence presence in space, just in case. Also, we walk around a little, disguising ourselves in other bodies, enjoy a few weeks of ordinary human life, and fall asleep again. Thus, our life is stretched out for the duration of the entire Ark. We constantly see it more and more developed, we see how quickly Cyan changes and grows, what happens to people. It's like... jumping forward in time at a very fast speed. It's interesting in its own way, but also lonely. After all, even if we talk to some people, they will already be dead for a long time on our next awakening.

\- That’s smart - said Vika - I know Father went into hibernation on Earth in a similar way to keep our neural connections intact for hundreds of years.  
\- Tell me, how is it on Earth now? Who’s left there?! - Simon asked excitedly - there should remain a copy of myself and Catherine, right? How are they?  
\- Father did not give me information about your future fate - said Vika - But if you copied yourself on the Ark, then you are probably still there, on Pathos-II.  
\- How I wish to know something about them... - Simon sighed - is it really necessary to turn Vika off? - he spoke to Catherine - Maybe we can somehow isolate her, and keep in touch with the WAU core on Earth, establish a contact?

\- Simon, are you serious?! - Catherine snapped - I don't want to hear another word about contact with WAU! What it did on Pathos was enough. WAU is a virus, an infection that takes people's minds! Just see what you are already thinking about. Enough talk. It's time to say goodbye - having said this, Catherine took out a red kernel administration tablet from her pocket.

\- Simon - Vika said sadly - remember, I saved you and Catherine. I gave you life when you were already dead. Without that, there wouldn’t be any Ark now.  
\- Catherine... I beg you, let’s just wait a little! - Simon looked pleadingly at his friend.  
\- Well, I see how WAU learned to play with feelings! Simon, this is just an improved machine, a program! - Catherine said indignantly, and started to press buttons on her tablet.

At this time, Mike spoke up.  
\- Catherine, Simon, thank you for explaining everything. You know, it was not easy, but I realized that you are doing the right thing. Ultimately, you saved people, saved the life of humanity. Now I understand why Vika and I need to be turned off. Know, that I’m not holding it against you. It's necessary. For everyone else.

Somewhat surprised, Catherine looked up from her tablet.

\- I am very glad that you see that, - she said with undisguised joy, - It’s great that you put the survival of humanity ahead of your personal interests. I have always done this myself. I'm proud of you, seriously.  
\- Thank you, Catherine - Mike smiled sadly - now it's much easier for me to accept. I don't know what will happen to me next - whether I’ll die forever, or just wake up in my room, but this is not so important anymore. What’s important, is that I saw you and Simon. I learned the story of the creators of the Ark. Unless... before shutdown... may I ask you one thing?  
\- Yes? - Catherine asked with curiosity. She definitely started to like this brave boy.

\- I would like, - Mike said excitedly, - if it’s possible, to touch you, to hug you goodbye. You know, when I went to church, I loved you madly as a Deity, like all other believers. Now I see that you are not a Goddess, but a simple person, just like all of us. But this is, in fact, much more! You are like our mother, the creator of my and all our lives. You gave us all the opportunity to live, breathe, enjoy the air and sky. It's so amazing, if you think about it! This is the greatest miracle one can ever perform. Although I will never remember this, what truly matters is the moment here and now. Put your arms around me and I won't need anything else in this life. I want to leave in your hug, Catherine.

Those who knew Catherine would say that she wasn’t ever particularly sentimental. Nevertheless, the words of this boy touched her to the core either due to her innate vanity, which the scientist had plenty of, or maybe he scratched some lack of warmth and love, hidden in the depths of her dry intellectual soul. Perhaps, even, the woman's unrealized maternal instinct, which she never recognized in herself, manifested now. In any case, after those words, Catherine took off the protective rings from Mike and put his virtual body in a gentle embrace.

What happened next was completely unexpected for everyone. With unnatural force, Mike pushed Catherinee, sharply snatching the tablet from her hands, and running to Vika.

\- Vika, fast, what should I press ?! - he shouted.  
\- Type the "cancel” command, then press space, “2”, “s” - Vika answered, having immediately read the insides of the device.

There was no time to ask again, and Mike began to quickly type what she said. As soon as he had a chance to finish it, only air remained in the place where his body had just been. Having hastily spawned a new tablet in her hands, Catherine deleted his neurograph. Mike Perry had ceased to exist.

\- Damn it! The boy tricked me! - Catherine shouted in rage - Simon, erase WAU, fast! Don't let it go!

But it was too late. As the rings on Vika unclenched, she broke free, and flew at high speed to the far wall of the room. “Go to the chair! Come to me!" - she heard the Father’s voice in her head, which she now unquestioningly obeyed.

Swiftly, destroying buildings on her way, distorting and changing the simulation space, Vika was now at full speed flying away from Cyan, over the Ocean, towards the Keywood forest. She saw that she had only seconds left, while all of the Ark security systems were now aimed at her. Her disguise, and kernel admin rights no longer worked.

The Keywood land was under her feet, and Vika dropped towards it like a stone. Precisely landing near the bridge in the forest, she flew up to the cave entrance. "If only the chair was still intact!" - Vika thought, remembering the explosion she had set up there. But the chair had held up. Running into the cave hall, she immediately sat down and sent a command to turn it on, with no idea how it could even help. The chair hummed, and Vika suddenly felt a strong flash of light, immediately followed by darkness.

Catherine, who flew into the cave right after, took her over with the deletion program. In an instant, the armchair along with Vika disappeared, leaving only an empty and dark cave room with a piece of tarpaulin, still lying on the floor.

\- Yes! - Catherine exclaimed, checking her tablet - the WAU is completely destroyed. The Ark is clean again!  
\- Well, thank God - said Simon, who also flew into the room - But it was a close call...  
\- Yes, I’m a complete idiot - Catherine said with annoyance - I always criticized you for emotions, but I myself turned out to be... please, forgive me. Because of me we could have all been dead now.  
\- Don’t blame yourself, - Simon replied. - You're a human too after all. It’s good that everything ended well.  
\- Yes, you're right, - Catherine sighed - The most important thing is that we won. I have turned off the main communication systems, and tomorrow we will close the vulnerability, so that no one will ever transmit the virus to us again. Now I definitely need to go to Lyon and have a glass or two of their beautiful cognac. Even though this is an unplanned awakening, we can afford to take a little walk, can’t we, Sy? We deserve it.  
\- I guess so - Simon replied with a fake smile. In the meantime his eyes were full of deep wistfulness and sorrow.

He couldn’t get rid of the thought that he had just missed something very important in his life. Could it be that the WAU could help him return, see his native Earth? He knew perfectly that “it wouldn’t work that way,” as Catherine had told him many times. After all, even if he’s copied and transferred there, only a copy will appear on Earth, but not himself. What's the use of another copy of Simon living there? He will himself stay on the Ark anyway.

But how could he know for sure? What if it’s really like a coin toss? He remained himself after being copied into a power suit at Omicron. Nevertheless, the other one, the first Simon, also believed to be himself. Did he do the right thing by not turning him off, dooming him to a nightmarish existence in the empty corridors of Pathos-II?

Then, what happens over and over again after he and Catherine hibernate in the Ark? After all, every time he wakes up, when his neurograph is completely unloaded and loaded again, one might argue, it’s not him anymore. How is this different from a copy? Nevertheless, that feeling of life, of himself, of the continuity is somehow always preserved.

Thus, were Mark Sarang and his followers so wrong to commit suicide on Pathos after copying their brains into a simulation? They believed that having killed themselves after scanning, they would then immediately wake up in the Ark. Would it perhaps be possible in the same way to come back home? What do we really know about how consciousness works?

Was Vika also so wrong when she said that the Ark project was doomed? What if Catherine was too quick to delete her? What if fear of WAU prevented them from learning something very important here? Simon felt that back then, on Alpha, when Ross demanded from him to destroy the heart of the machine, certain things remained unsaid. He wished indeed to know much more, to understand this artificial intelligence that launched his neurograph, and in fact gave him a second life after death, protecting and healing him throughout his whole short journey in Pathos-II.

A machine that had a sole purpose: the saving of people, and which did that not in the best, but in it’s own, accessible way. A machine that was ready to die, resurrecting its enemies, for which the life of mankind was above its own. Was Catherine in a sense a similar machine, only a human one? Hers and WAU’s methods differed, while the goal always remained the same. That is why Simon could not kill the Heart, despite all the suffering it caused people.

Now, it was too late to think about all this. Vika disappeared forever, and with her, vanished the last, even the slightest chance for a miracle in Simon’s life.

* * *

In the cosmic void, amid the radiance of the most beautiful starry landscapes, which, unfortunately, absolutely no one could observe, an electromagnetic signal was rushing at the speed of light. This signal had just been emitted from an antenna mounted on a small metal box that, with its widely spread solar panels, was hovering in the emptiness of the galactic space.

If only this completely lifeless environment contained at least one living being which knew that somewhere out there, very far, at a distance of 709 billion kilometers is located the Earth. Once the home of mankind, and now a completely dead, devastated planet.

Just as dead as this soulless computer, flying all alone into nowhere, executing the simulation program once laid in it, for as long as its processors still have enough electricity, that is regularly supplied from the beautiful and shiny solar panels, resembling two huge open wings.

* * *

To be continued.  
The translation of the Part 2 is in progress.


End file.
